Decks cleared for 900-km Chardham road project

Decks have been cleared for Char Dham highway project, which will connect four holy places in Uttarakhand through a 900-km all-weather road, with the SC clearing the decks by modifying an NGT order and that the apex court has allowed various works in progress under Centre‘s Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna plan for connecting holy places -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath -- by an all-weather road. It directed the ministry of environment and forest to form the high-powered committee quickly as an apex court bench comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and Surya Kant. The committee will also give directions to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the court said and asked the committee to submit its recommendations within four months. The NGO said the NGT, instead of looking at the entire project as one whole, viewed it in over 50 segments, which made them appear small projects not necessitating environment clearance or public hearing. The hills in the region are fragile and that if the project is allowed to continue, it would cause an irreversible damage to ecology that would be equal to the damage caused together by 10 hydro power projects.