SC to hear plea to widen Char Dham road on May 14
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear on May 14 a case relating to the widening of roads of Char Dham highway in Uttarakhand.
A Bench comprising Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari posted the matter for Friday while observing that issue of widening of roads leading to the China border is of national importance.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for Centre, contended that the government has said that the roads have to be constructed at a width of 7 meters. 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.
During the hearing, Attorney General told the apex court that Justice Rohinton F Nariman’s Bench had allowed 5.5 meters, but the MoRTH amended it, saying that the roads are being used for different purposes, going right up to the Chinese borders.
Asking the counsels in the case to give it all the relevant orders by today evening or by tomorrow morning, the Bench posted the plea of Centre for widening of roads for hearing on Friday. The case is related to the 900-km Char Dham highway project, which the government has said will improve access to four Hindu pilgrim sites in Uttarakhand.
NGO Citizens for Green Doon had approached the top court and raised environmental concerns regarding the Char Dham highway project. Citizens for Green Doon had approached the top court of the devastation caused to mountains as a result of violations of directions by authorities.