No Link Between Char Dham Highway Project & Uttarakhand Disaster, Centre Tells Supreme Court

In connection with the Char Dham Highway Project, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted two weeks' time to the Centre to file its response to the report of the court-appointed High Powered Committee, in the wake of the recent Uttarakhand floods.Appearing before a bench headed by Justice Rohinton Nariman, Attorney General K. K. Venugopal, for the Defence Ministry, advanced that the assertions made by the HPC in the wake of the recent unfortunate disaster in Uttarakhand, where the members led by the Chairman have imputed blame to the Project, are not correct. The AG took objection to the Chairman of the HPC, Ravi Chopra, writing a letter to the Government linking the Highway widening project to the recent flash floods on Dhauliganga river, which claimed many lives and damaged Tapovan hydro project. The AG termed the letter "unwarranted"."The allegations of the HPC are not correct. I wish to file a response on behalf of the Ministry of Defence", he submitted.The bench granted two weeks' time for the same.The Supreme Court had, in January, continued the interim order which directed to keep the road width at 5.5 Meter against the plan of the Ministry of Defence to have a road width of 10 Meters.The Supreme Court had on September 8, 2020 directed that the width of hilly and mountainous terrains for the Char Dham Highway project to be constructed in accordance with the 2018 circular of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The ministry had earlier followed its 2012 order based on which the road width of a two-lane road with paved shoulder was fixed at 10 metres.A 3-judge bench comprising of Justices Nariman, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee took into consideration the current situation with regard to the eco system and fragility of the mountain terrains to order that the width of the road would remain at 5.5 metres.A High Power Committee constituted by Supreme Court in August 2019 submitted a Report in July 2020 whereby 13 members recommended following standards prescribed in a circular from 2012 while 5 members, including the Chairman, were in favour of going ahead according to the 2018 circular.The 2018 circular prescribes a width of 5.5 metres for the intermediate lane configuration along with two-lane structures for National Highways in hilly and mountainous terrains.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had contended that it was only a minority view of the Committee that the 2018 circular be complied with. Adding that since the road covers the India-China Border, the terrain in question sees movement of Army vehicles. Therefore, he urged, the width of the carriageway must be 7 metres wide, not 5.5 metres.Refusing to accept this submission, Justice Nariman asserted that "the 2018 circular will alone apply." In December last year, the court had asked the HPC to consider the applications filed before the Court by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, against reducing the road width. The ministries had sought permission for the widening of the road in border areas and the completion of the Char Dham road project with the originally specified width. Reportedly, in its report to the SC, the high-powered committee presented a divided opinion with the majority in favour of the wider roads on the Char Dham route, considering the strategic requirement and snow removal needs. The majority report also took into account the state government's focus on reversing the migration in border areas by providing ample livelihood opportunities and ease of transportation, and said that the latest MoRTH circular on wider roads, of December 15, 2020, amending its previous circular and increasing the road width in hilly and mountainous terrains along the Indo-China border from 5.5 m to 10 m, should be accepted.The majority report added it is not "feasible" to revisit the entire project where work is already completed and reduce the road width from 10 m to 5.5 m, underlining that it was "impractical" to reclaim the already tarred road because it will not be possible to grow trees on the excavated parts."Road width may be kept as approved for Char Dham with flexibility as per site conditions, considering the prior, during and post vulnerability of the terrain in the design, instead of restricting the road width," stated the majority report, adding landslides may have no direct connection with road cutting and constructions.The minority group comprised high-powered committee chairman Ravi Chopra, who is a noted environmentalist, and two other members, however, expressed their dissent and maintained that the road width should be restricted to 5.5 m.In its affidavit, the MoRTH had urged the Supreme Court to accept the majority view of the HPC, which has favoured a 10-metre road width for the Rs.12,000-crore Char Dham highway project. The ministry has pointed out that 21 out of 26 members of the court-appointed HPC have been in favour of the wider road to ease ...

No Link Between Char Dham Highway Project & Uttarakhand Disaster, Centre Tells Supreme Court

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