Supreme Court Given Go Ahead Char Dham Road Project

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for the Char Dham Road Project . As a result, the Central Government can now expand roads under the Char Dham Road project.

The Court accepted the arguments made by the government that extensive roads in the area were of strategic importance and authorized the construction of three double-lane highways in Uttarakhand.

Char Dham Road Project importance for National Security

The top court on Tuesday said that there is a need to meet the border security concerns and the need for movement of troops and equipment in view of the serious challenges to national security in recent times, in view of which the road width in the All Weather Road Project is now The court has given permission to increase. Along with this, now the way to make double lane highway has also been completely cleared.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath said the Defense Ministry is a specialized body and can decide its operational requirements. The court said the security of the
borders has to meet the infrastructure requirements of the armed forces and highways of strategic importance cannot be treated like other hilly areas.

Char Dham Road Project was Challenged by and NGO

The court also accepted the environmental concerns of the petitioner and said that it would like to meet Justice AK, a retired judge of the former Supreme Court. An NGO challenged the road expansion project in 2018 because of the potential impacts it might have on the Himalayan ecology by felling trees, cutting hills, and dumping muck. A wider road requires additional slope cutting, blasting, tunnelling, dumping and deforestation – all of which will further destabilise the Himalayan terrain, and increase vulnerability to landslides and flash floods.