Supreme Court allows widening of Char Dham road; 5 things to know about Char dham road project

Char dham road project upsc: The Supreme Court of India on December 14, 2021, permitted the Central Government for double lane widening of the roads for the Char Dham Project in the light of the security concerns. An oversight committee has also been set up which will be headed by the former Justice A K Sikri for the direct reporting of the ambitious project. The oversight committee set up by the Supreme Court bench will receive all the support from the Ministry of Defence, Uttarakhand Government, Ministry of Road Transport and all the district magistrates.

Char Dham Road Project in Uttarakhand

The strategic 900-km-long Char dham project in Uttarakhand worth Rs. 1,200 crores aim at providing all weather-connectivity to four holy towns in Uttarakhand- Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath.

Supreme Court allows the Central government to construct three double-lane strategic highways for the Char Dham road project in Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/Ru0Qb6s5zD

— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2021

Government’s plea for the widening of Char Dham Road: Background

The Supreme Court was hearing the plea by the Government of India seeking the modification of the September 8, 2020 order which had asked the Road Transport and Highways Ministry to follow 2018 circular stipulating the carriageway width of 5.5 metre on the Char dham highway project, which goes up to India’s border with China.

The Ministry of Defence, in its application, mentioned that it seeks modification of the order and directions that the National Highways from Rishikesh to Gangotri, from Rishikesh to Mana and from Tanakpur to Pithoragarh may be developed to the two-lane arrangement.

5 Things to know about Char Dham Road Project

1. The Char Dham Road Project in Uttarakhand which connects the four shrines of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath in the upper Himalayas, has an 899 km road.

2. Char Dham Highway expansion project worth Rs. 12,000 crores were envisaged back in 2016.

3. PM Modi laid the foundation stone back in December 2016. He described the project as a tribute to those who lost their lives in flash floods in Uttarakhand.

4. Even though Char Dham road project was primarily conceived to facilitate tourism and Char dham yatras, it always had a strategic angle as the highways will facilitate the seamless movement of troops to the areas that are closer to the China border.

5. The Ministry of Road had also earlier claimed that a substantial reduction in the road width to 5.5m in terms of 2018 circular will result in non-uniform carriageway width differing from 10m to 5.5m.