In 2018, the Freeway Ministry issued a round on width of roads for the Chardham undertaking. (File)
New Delhi:
The Supreme Courtroom Tuesday mentioned the 2018 round of the Ministry of Highway Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on width of roads in hilly and mountainous terrains be adopted in building of Chardham freeway undertaking, offering all-weather connectivity to 4 holy cities of Uttarakhand.
The round says that carriageway width shall be of intermediate lane configurations, that’s of 5.5 metre width, with two-lane constructions.
The 4 cities of hilly state of Uttarakhand which might be related by the formidable all-weather 900-km freeway undertaking are — Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
The matter got here up for listening to earlier than a bench headed by Justice R F Nariman which informed Solicitor Common Tushar Mehta that the authority must comply with the 2018 tips.
“All you need to do is to go by your 2018 tips. How will you not go by your individual tips?,” the bench requested Solicitor Common Tushar Mehta.
Mr Mehta mentioned that the high-powered committee has submitted its report and there are some points, together with on the side of street width.
He mentioned the “minority view” of the committee has mentioned that intermediate carriageway width ought to be 5.5 metre for hilly terrain as per the 2018 round.
Mr Mehta mentioned that undertaking covers areas of India-China border and as there are motion of Military autos, the intermediate carriage width ought to be 7 metre as an alternative of the 5.5 metre.
Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, showing for the petitioner NGO, mentioned that a number of instructions have been violated by the authorities and this has brought on devastation of mountains and bushes within the space.
Parikh additionally raised the difficulty of tree felling within the space as a result of undertaking.
“We’re not going into any roving inquiry. The slender challenge is about 2018 tips,” the bench mentioned.
The bench additionally noticed that acceptable plantation be finished there by the authority.
In August final yr, the highest court docket had cleared the decks for the Chardham freeway undertaking by modifying an Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal order to represent a high-powered committee to look into environmental issues.
It had mentioned that the high-powered committee shall take into account the cumulative and impartial influence of the Chardham undertaking on your entire Himalayan valley, in addition to different issues.
