The Supreme Court on March 11 accepted the resignation of Professor Ravi Chopra as chairperson of a panel formed to oversee widening of roads under the Centre’s Rs 2,000 crore Char Dham project.
- The apex court appointed its former judge A K Sikri as the new chairman.
- After his resignation was accepted, Ravi Chopra said careful implementation of the road project in the ecologically-fragile Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone stretch will be a critical task for the panel.
Char Dham project
- Char Dham National Highway (NH) connectivity programme comprises projects of improvement/development of 889 km length of NHs leading to Yamunotri Dham, Gangotri Dham, Kedarnath Dham, Badrinath Dham and part of route leading to Kailash Mansarovar yatra at total project cost for Rs. 11,700 crore.
- Projects under Char Dham lie within the State of Uttarakhand only.
- On December 14, 2021 the Supreme Court permitted the Union government to construct all-weather roads with 10m width as part of its Char Dham project in Uttarakhand, underlining that “the recent past has thrown up serious challenges to national security”, and that wide strategic feeder roads to Indo-China border areas were required for the infrastructural needs of the armed forces.
- The section from Dharasu bend to Gangotri (94km) lies under Bhagirathi Eco- Sensitive Zone.
- The projects under Char Dham Programme include widening of existing roads along with adequate/sufficient slope protection by way of erection of retaining walls and breast walls and by deploying drapery system, netting, anchoring, reinforced wall etc. as per Detailed Project Reports.
About Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone
- The Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone notification from Gaumukh to Uttarakashi covering an area of 4179.59 sq. kilometer was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEF&CC) on 18th December 2012.
- Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone is on one of the feeder routes of the Char Dham pariyojana. It stretches from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi, covering an area of 4179.59 sqkm.
