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Parliament monsoon session: Char Dham road project not referred for appraisal, says ministry in Rajya Sabha
The ministry was responding to a question on whether mandatory Environment Impact Assessment was avoided to fast-track the project and the reason for fast-tracking it in hilly and mountainous terrain
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The Union environment ministry on Saturday told Parliament that the Char Dham road project to connect four Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand has not been referred to it for appraisal as it did not need to be appraised even as it has involved the loss of trees and ecological damage to the fragile Himalayas.
It cited an August 2013 notification exempting all projects related to the expansion of national highways up to 100 km from the preview of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. The exemption was granted on the recommendation of a high-level committee constituted to review the provisions in the notification related to environmental clearance for roads, buildings, and special economic zone projects.
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“In view of the... thresholds applicable to roads in Char Dham projects, no project has been referred to the MoEFCC [Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change] for appraisal,” the ministry told Rajya Sabha.
The ministry was responding to a question on whether mandatory Environment Impact Assessment was avoided to fast-track the project and the reason for fast-tracking it in hilly and mountainous terrain.
The 900-km Char Dham project will connect pilgrimage sites in Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.
A Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee has flagged environmental violations in the execution of the project, including felling of thousands of trees without approval and unsafe construction practices. The violations may have activated landslides in certain areas, it said.
The Supreme Court on September 9 ruled the width of the Char Dham highway shall not exceed the 5.5 metres the Union road transport ministry has specified in 2018 for the construction of roads in the mountainous terrain.
The ministry separately told Rajya Sabha that forest land larger than Delhi and slightly smaller than Goa has been approved for non-forestry purposes like mining, irrigation, and hydropower from 2008 and 2020.
It said 247843.49 ha of forest land has been approved for diversion under the Forest Conservation Act. The ministry added certificates of compliance with the Act for diversion of forest land are obtained from district collectors. It added the proposals for such diversions have been placed before concerned village councils and forest-dwellers. The ministry said they have certified all processes under the Act and given their consent for the diversion and compensation, etc.
“We have to start moving away from hyper-legal and technocratic approach to protecting the environment. Environment regulation requires a much more reflexive approach and defensive one. The approval of the Char Dham project is yet another case in point when poorly thought out and hasty decisions have resulted in severe and irreversible damage. Acknowledging it will not just help taking project specific remedial action, but also allow us to bring back progressive legal measures that may have been undone through numerous exemptions introduced by successive governments,” said Kanchi Kohli, legal researcher at Centre for Policy Research.
