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How Truck Drivers In India Navigate One Of The Most Dangerous Roads In The World | Risky Business
How Truck Drivers In India Navigate One Of The Most Dangerous Roads In The World | Risky Business
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Субтитры (176)
0:01
Narrator: Killar Road deep in the Himalayas
0:04
is one of the most dangerous in the world.
0:08
One reckless turn could send drivers hurtling down
0:11
nearly 11,000 feet.
0:33
Narrator: Still, every summer,
0:35
Anku Rawat makes several trips
0:38
delivering basic supplies to remote villages
0:41
along this perilous route.
0:45
Narrator: It connects the rest of India
0:47
to the isolated region of Pangi Valley,
0:50
which is cut off for nearly six months
0:52
of the year because of heavy snow.
1:01
Narrator: But sometimes, trucks break down along the way,
1:04
leaving drivers stranded for days.
1:07
So what does it take
1:08
to navigate these heavy-duty trucks on this deadly path?
1:13
We rode along with Anku through the mountains
1:16
for three days to find out.
1:22
Anku lives in the village of Palhun
1:24
with his wife Sabita and their children.
1:28
He never really knows what the weather will be,
1:31
so he packs plenty of blankets.
1:36
They sit down for a family dinner
1:41
before Anku sets off.
1:50
He first picks up the truck from a private parking lot
1:53
that rents them out.
1:55
This one has power steering
1:57
and a 5,600 cc engine
2:00
ideal for driving through the mountains.
2:26
Narrator: Anku will make a few pit stops
2:28
on this 107-mile journey.
2:31
First, he'll travel about 10 miles from his home
2:33
to a warehouse in Chamba to pick up food rations.
2:37
Then he'll pass through several small towns
2:40
and go through Sach Pass, the highest point on Killar Road,
2:44
before reaching his destination,
2:46
the district of Pangi Valley.
2:50
Today, Anku is loading 100-pound bags of wheat
2:55
provided by the government
2:56
to sustain India's most isolated regions.
3:01
His truck can carry up to 12 tons,
3:04
but any more than that,
3:05
and it could topple over.
3:10
He always stops at this local temple along the way.
3:29
Narrator: The truck can hold up to 250 liters of diesel,
3:33
but there are hardly any gas stations along the route.
3:49
The terrain starts off pretty smooth,
3:54
but as the truck goes uphill, it gets rough,
3:58
and his speed drops below 10 miles per hour.
4:03
At this point, the road is only 10 feet wide,
4:09
and there's barely room for two cars
4:11
to drive next to each other.
4:14
So when another vehicle approaches, Anku needs
4:17
to carefully reverse, sometimes by hundreds of yards.
4:30
Luckily, he's traveling with truck conductor
4:32
Mohammad Nisar Mughal, who jumps out
4:35
and guides Anku around blind spots and dangerous turns.
4:51
Narrator: There are no guardrails to
4:53
prevent them from veering off.
5:04
Narrator: In July 2022,
5:06
a Jeep rolled into a gorge, killing five people.
5:09
And in 2023, seven people died
5:12
after the vehicle was hit by a landslide on this route.
5:26
Narrator: But after years of experience as a trucker,
5:29
Anku isn't easily intimidated.
5:41
Narrator: All the traditional rules of the road
5:43
don't really apply.
5:45
Truck drivers communicate with hand signals,
5:48
which becomes important during moments
5:50
of congestion like this.
5:59
Narrator: They also use pressure horns,
6:04
which are illegal in India,
6:06
but Anku says they need them for safety reasons.
6:16
Narrator: Anku doesn't wear a seat belt either,
6:19
even though under Indian law, he's required to.
6:22
He says for this type of driving,
6:25
they can do more harm than good,
6:27
as they restrict the driver from leaning over.
6:32
Narrator: But stats on semi-truck accidents show
6:35
that drivers are more likely to survive if they buckle up.
6:39
In this state alone,
6:41
trucks and buses accounted for 12%
6:43
of all fatal crashes in 2022.
6:48
Landslides and snowfall have also weakened
6:51
this road structure, forming ditches
6:53
and piles of debris.
6:56
So the government hires contractors
6:58
to keep repairing it.
7:02
Killar Road started off as a footpath
7:04
with narrow trails carved by shepherds
7:07
and traders who were trying to reach
7:09
the remote Pangi Valley.
7:12
Legend has it that residents
7:13
of Chamba fled to the hidden region
7:16
to escape Mughal invaders.
7:19
Others believe that in the 16th century,
7:21
the king of Chamba
7:23
banished criminals to this isolated region.
7:27
These days, Killar Road is used mainly by tourists,
7:31
bikers seeking an adrenaline rush,
7:34
truckers, and local residents.
7:38
After about eight to nine hours of driving,
7:46
the men pull over.
7:48
They make a fire to start cooking
7:50
with groceries they brought from home.
7:53
But even during dinner, they stay vigilant
7:56
in case they're confronted by wild animals
7:58
or thieves.
8:13
Narrator: There are no hotels for miles.
8:15
So they sleep in the truck's cabin.
8:33
Narrator: The next day,
8:34
they start driving at the crack of dawn.
8:37
Killar Road gets even more treacherous
8:40
and spectacular as trucks pass through waterfalls
8:46
and incredibly tight spaces.
8:54
Narrator: Vehicles along this route
8:55
often run into mechanical problems.
8:58
This truck carrying grains to Pangi Valley broke down
9:01
after the gearbox stopped working.
9:04
The mechanic says the nearest store
9:06
for car parts is about 180 miles away.
9:26
Narrator: The whole process will take four days,
9:28
and the truck will just stay here until then.
9:33
Anku and his team carry on with their journey.
9:45
At around midday,
9:46
they stop at a local dhaba for a quick bite.
9:54
These cafes cater to truck drivers.
9:57
The people who run them, like Laxman Sharma,
10:00
understand how hard it is to drive around here.
10:13
Narrator: But even these cafes close down
10:16
once it starts snowing around October.
10:31
Narrator: While Anku's job is an essential service,
10:33
he only makes about 10,000 rupees a month.
10:37
That's about $4 a day,
10:39
enough to buy a few pounds of rice and lentils in India.
10:49
Narrator: He could make about 25,000 rupees a month
10:52
as a personal driver in Delhi or Bombay.
10:55
But his heart belongs here in the Himalayas,
10:58
and he wants the whole world to know
11:00
how beautiful these mountains are.
11:06
Narrator: So he vlogs on the side.
11:08
He has about 50,000 followers and counting on YouTube.
11:39
Narrator: But the most treacherous part of this route
11:42
is getting through Sach Pass.
11:45
At nearly 14,500 feet,
11:47
Sach Pass is one of the highest navigable places
11:50
in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
11:53
Drivers are advised not to stop at the top
11:56
for more than five minutes
11:57
because there's so little oxygen in the air.
12:00
The road through here is even more narrow,
12:04
barely more than 8 feet wide.
12:08
So Anku needs to be extremely mindful
12:11
when navigating the steep slope.
12:41
Narrator: It takes him about three to four hours
12:44
to go through this 9-mile stretch.
13:23
Narrator: After they're through,
13:24
Anku recaps the journey for his followers.
13:36
Narrator: Killar is among 106 villages in Pangi Valley,
13:39
which has a total population of just 18,000 people.
13:50
Narrator: Almost 200 trucks head there every summer
13:53
carrying food, medicine, and other basic supplies.
13:58
They're stored at this warehouse for the winter,
14:01
and residents buy them at a subsidized rate
14:03
set by the government.
14:11
Narrator: As soon as they're done unloading,
14:13
Anku and his colleagues hit the road.
14:19
Along the way,
14:20
they pass by a nomadic community called the Gujjars.
14:26
For Anku, catching up with them
14:28
over a cup of tea has become a ritual.
14:35
Even though driving through these mountains
14:37
is a part of Anku's identity,
14:44
the job has worn him down.
15:03
Narrator: But he still yearns for the day
15:05
he can truly enjoy the breathtaking nature around him.
