By Atul Chandra
National security interests overrode environmental concerns in Uttarakhand where the strategic Char Dham project has got the Supreme Court’s nod for widening of roads from the initial 5.5 metres to 10 m to facilitate easy and quick deployment of uniformed men and their armament along the China border.
A Supreme Court Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath gave its permission to widen and for double-lane paved shoulder highways to linking Rishikesh to Mana, which is the last Indian village beyond Badrinath, Rishikesh to Gangotri and Tanakpur to Pithoragarh. An earlier Bench of Justice RF Nariman had refused permission for widening of the 900-km road in September 2020.
The road widening was being opposed by green activists as the project involved felling of thousands of trees.
As the project has now been cleared, there is fear of certain elements taking advantage of the relaxation in rules to further their own interests. The Supreme Court has, therefore, appointed an oversight committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge AK Sikri to ensure implementation of environment protection measures recommended by the Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee (HPC). Other members of the committee include one representative each from National Environment Research Institute and Forest Research Institute.
Justice DY Chandrachud, who headed the Bench, said that a balanced approach is needed when it comes to widening of a strategic road and sustainable development. The Bench said that the infrastructural needs of the armed forces for swift deployment cannot be ignored. Referring to a 2019 statement by the former Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat in which he said that the existing roads were good enough, Justice Chandrachud said “…The recent past has thrown up serious challenges to national security…”
An NGO “Citizens for Green Doon” sought the court’s direction to stop felling of trees without prior clearance on the Ganeshpur-Dehradun stretch of the Delhi-Dehradun expressway. Citizen’s plea, though justified, came a bit too late as Dehradun and its adjoining areas had lost much of its greenery to rapacious individuals much before the Char Dham road project got the government’s nod. Anyone going to Dehradun, and even to Queen of the Hills Mussoorie, during summer will vouch that unregulated construction and tree felling has ruined the city’s climate.
The Char Dham road project was initially aimed at facilitating pilgrims going to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The Centre’s notification in 2018 said that the road width in hilly terrain should not exceed 5.5 metres. In 2020 the Defence Ministry wanted the width for three highways leading up to the China border to be increased to 10 m. Skirmishes with China in Ladakh justified the ministry’s request.
Even as it permitted the Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to widen the Char Dham road in the interest of national security, it did not forget the necessity of sustainable development which is “deep-rooted in the jurisprudence of Indian environmental law”.
