Uttarakhand govt approves Char Dham project road widening
The Uttarakhand government approved a road widening in the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, sparking protests from environmental groups over deforestation concerns.
The Uttarakhand government has given its nod to the widening of a 20.6-km stretch under the Char Dham project in the upper reaches of Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive zone, people aware of the details said on Friday.
The 20.6-km stretch, called package 1, links Bhaironghat to Jhala villages in Uttarkashi district. According to a letter from the Uttarakhand Head of Forest Forces (HoFF), the stretch will involve the loss of 41.92 hectares of forest area, which includes several Deodar trees.
In the letter dated November 12 to the state nodal officer, forest land, the HoFF said that the road widening is “strategically important for national security”. The project, hence, has been considered under section 1A, sub-section (2)(c) of the Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act, 1980 (as amended in 2023) –– which exempts strategic linear projects, situated within a distance of 100km along international borders or Line of Control or Line of Actual Control, from forest clearance, the letter said.
“If a project is declared strategic by the ministry of defence or the ministry of home, the state has the authority to approve diversion of land. Since this stretch is in the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, there is also a monitoring committee constituted by the MoEFCC (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change). They have also considered this project and it has received approval following these deliberations,” said a senior official, who was involved in the clearance process, on the condition of anonymity.
Environment groups opposing the proposed road widening have announced a march to protest against the state-level clearance. Local groups have organised a yatra on Saturday from Delhi and Rishikesh up to Uttarkashi, Bhaironghati and Harsil, where public gatherings will be held to discuss their concerns over the project.
“A group of around 60-100 people are collecting at Harsil in Uttarkashi to tie Raksha Sutras on the Deodaar trees, which is symbolic of our resolve towards the protection and conservation of these precious Deodar trees, which are marked to be felled for infrastructure projects in the valley,” said Ayush Joshi from Uttarakhand-based environmental organisation Ganga Ahvaan, and organising committee member for Saturday’s event.
“Murali Manohar Joshi, Karan Singh are leading this movement and the veteran political leaders will virtually address the gathering. Krishna Gopal from the RSS has extended support. Gopal Arya, who is the head of the environment wing within RSS, will be attending the meeting physically along with the other karyakartas,” he added.
HT had reported on September 27 that former Union ministers Karan Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi, along with several other signatories, wrote to the Supreme Court, urging it to reconsider its 2021 ruling on the Char Dham project, which permitted the widening of a large section of the route to a double-lane with paved shoulder (DL-PS) standard for national security reasons.
The signatories alleged that permitting the widening of roads to 12 metres has triggered widespread landslides and sinking zones in the ecologically fragile region. “This judgment, if not reviewed, will lead to irreparable and immediate impact in the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, which is the origin valley of the national river Ganga and is also the site of the recent Dharali disaster. In view of the safety of lives and livelihood of people and all-weather movement of defence forces, it is imperative to consider the ecological sensitivity and limitation of the terrain so as to adopt a disaster and climate-resilient approach towards sustainable infrastructure,” the appeal, seen by HT, said.
