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13/03/22 11:10 AM IST

Chardham Project

In News 

  • The Supreme Court urged its former Justice AK Sikri to take over as the Chairman of the high-powered committee constituted by it to “consider the cumulative and independent impact of the Char Dham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana (Char Dham Highway Development Project) on the entire Himalayan valley.
Background 
  • In 2019, Professor Ravi Chopra was appointed as chairperson of the HPC by the Supreme Court.
  • Professor Ravi Chopra’s resignation as chairperson of the committee was accepted by a panel of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant after he filed a letter in January requesting to quit.
About Chardham Pariyojana
  • The objective of the Chardham Pariyojana is to improve connectivity to the Chardham pilgrimage centres in the Himalayas i.e. Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri, making journeys to these centres faster, safer, and more convenient. 900 kilometers of highways, including the Tanakpur-Pithoragarh stretch of National Highway (NH) 125, which is part of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route will be widened under this project.
  • Uttarakhand State Public Works Department (PWD), the National Highway & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) are the implementing agencies of this project.
Concerns 
  • The project might destroy 55000 trees and 690 hectares of forest, as well as 20 million cubic meters of soil. The harvesting or removal of vegetation for road widening can be hazardous to the regional ecology and the biodiversity.




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