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SC NOD TO WIDENING OF CHAR DHAM ROADS OVER SECURITY CONCERNS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Centre to construct all-weather roads with 10-metre tarred surfaces, as opposed to the 5.5-metre-wide road ordered earlier, as a part of the Char Dham project. Many of these are strategic feeder roads leading to the Indo-China border, according to officials familiar with the matter. The top court had […]

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Centre to construct all-weather roads with 10-metre tarred surfaces, as opposed to the 5.5-metre-wide road ordered earlier, as a part of the Char Dham project. Many of these are strategic feeder roads leading to the Indo-China border, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The top court had in September 2020 had ordered that the road width on the entire Char Dham route cannot be more than 5.5 meters in view of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) own circular in 2018. Seeking modification of the September order, the MoD had said that Justice Rohinton F. Nariman’s Bench had allowed 5.5 meters, but the MoRTH amended it, as the roads are being used for different purposes, going right up to the Chinese borders. The Central government had told the top court to accept the majority view of the High Powered Committee (HPC), which has favoured a 10-meter road width for the Rs12,000-crore Char Dham highway project.

Today, passing the order on the Ministry of Defence’s plea for the widening of roads, a Bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said, “We find there are no malafides in an application filed by Ministry of Defence. MoD is authorized to design operational requirements of armed forces. Bonafides of MoD are apparent from security concerns raised in a security committee meeting.” It added, “This court in the exercise of judicial review cannot second guess the requirements of the army.”

The Bench further added: “We allow the application by Defence Ministry for double lane highways for three strategic highways. Recent past has thrown up serious challenges to security along the borders.” The Defence ministry had urged the Supreme Court to modify the earlier order and allow the national highways from Rishikesh to Mana, from Rishikesh to Gangotri, and from Tanakpur to Pithoragarh to be developed to two-lane configuration. “This court can’t second-guess infrastructural needs of armed forces,” held the top court. The Supreme Court has, however, taken note of environmental concerns raised regarding the widening of the Char Dham highway project.

The bench also set up an Oversight Committee headed by former Supreme Court judge A.K. Sikri to report to it directly on the project. The Oversight Committee has been constituted to ensure that all remedial measures are taken in the interest of the environment and that the relevant recommendation of the high-powered committee is implemented while going ahead with the project. However, the court clarified that the Oversight Committee will not undertake a fresh environment assessment.

While modifying the 8 September 2020 order allowing only 5.5-metre-wide width for the Char Dham roads, the Supreme Court noted on Tuesday that the Ministry of road transport and highways circulars do not forbid the double-laning of roads in hilly and mountainous terrains if they are of strategic and border importance. The judiciary cannot interfere either in defence requirements, the court added. The oversight committee shall receive all support from the defence ministry, the road transport ministry, the Uttarakhand government and all district magistrates concerned.

The strategic 900km-long Char Dham project, worth ₹12,000 crore, aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four sacred towns in Uttarakhand–Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath.

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