SRINAGAR, June 26:
The third J&K Bank Mughal Rally will not run on the Line of Control (LoC) in the Gurez Valley of Kashmir due to inclement weather.
However, the Mughal Rally 2012, organised by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, will set a bar internationally as it will record the longest day ever in motoring history for a mountain rally — with a stretch of 640 kms for the Enduro category on day two of the event.
For the first time in the motoring history of the world, a competitive motorsport event would have run on the LoC between two nations, had the weather been favourable.
As per original plans, the Streamed category, comprising about 50 4X4 vehicles and 17 bikers would have taken on the LoC challenge.
But within days to go for the flag off of the rally, heightened snowmelt from the vast glacial expanse of the surrounding mountains have forced the organisers, Himalayan Motor- sport Association, Shimla, to cancel the Gurez leg of the eagerly awaited event.
The avalanches and landslides that have occurred as a result of the heavy snowmelt have effectively closed this route on the LoC between India and Pakistan.
Given the current weather conditions, it is impossible for motorists to cross the Gurez valley, much less ford its streams in three different places, as per the original plan. (PTI)
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