Govt opposes cutting Char Dham road width in top court
DEHRADUN: The ministry of road transport has told the Supreme Court that reducing the width of Char Dham road project as directed by the court could result in more accidents. An MoRTH official said they will request the SC to allow them to follow the old road length norms.
In its latest affidavit, filed on November 30, the ministry has said that there has been no cutting of hills in Uttarakhand after the apex court’s September order, and that all steps have been taken to comply with it (the order). The affidavit also mentions that before the SC’s September 8 order, “12 m formation cutting has already been carried out in 537 km out of the total sanctioned length of 662 km… Thus, where hill cutting has been done on the basis of 12 m formation and a 10 m tarred road has already been laid down or yet to be laid down, a substantial reduction in the width of the road to 5.5 m ... at this stage will result in non-uniform carriageway width varying from 10m to 5.5m in short stretches.”
“This sudden change in road width in a short road length is not desirable from road users’ safety perspectives and may lead to the formation of black spots and spurt in road accidents,” the affidavit reasoned.
HT has reviewed a copy of the affidavit signed by Dharmananda Sarangi, additional director gen
eral, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
On September 8, the apex court upheld the recommendation of
the minority members of the High-Powered Committee (formed to assess environmental damages of Char Dham Road) and asked the implementing agencies to reduce the width of the road to 5.5 for the whole project. This order was based on a March 2018 circular released by MoRTH itself laying down guidelines for road construction in hilly terrains in the country. A senior official from the regional office of MoRTH in Uttarakhand who asked not to be named said: ”It is a matter of common sense. How can a road be narrowed? All we are trying to say is that reducing it is not advisable in this situation as a broad road is already there and all of a sudden it(s width) will be reduced”.
He added, “In future (15 years estimated design life of Char Dham Road) traffic will increase in these roads and the need for a two-lane paved shoulder road can arise, when cutting the hills again will be problematic. So, we are requesting the Hon’ble Court that if not 12m (width) then we should at least be allowed to make 10m of road.” The affidavit also cites the strategic importance of the roads, which lead to the Indo-China border. It explains away the March 2018 circular of MoRTH as, “…is general in nature based on Passenger Car Unit traffic and applicable to all the hilly areas in the country. The same did not have in mind the strategic requirement for movement of military vehicles with heavy equipment especially in the Himalayan region leading to International Borders/ Line of Actual Control as well as for roads identified as economic corridors.”