Ravi Chopra, the chairperson of a high-powered committee appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee the Char Dham road-widening project, has resigned from his post, The Hindu reported on Friday. In a letter dated January 27, Chopra has said that the panel to protect the Himalayas “has been shattered”.
The Char Dham highway project in Uttarakhand links the four Hindu shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
In August 2019, the Supreme Court had ordered formation of the high-powered committee to analyse the impact of the Char Dham project and recommend measures to minimise damage to environment.
On the matter of road width of the highways, the committee was divided. Members of the panel, claiming to represent the “majority view”, submitted a report on July 14, 2020, before Chopra could send the final report to the environment ministry, The Hindu reported.
The report submitted by Chopra recommended that the width of the highways be limited to 5.5 metres, but the “majority report” suggested that the width be 12 metres.
On December 14, the Supreme Court allowed the Union Ministry of Defence to widen the roads for the 899 kilometres-long Char Dham project. The court held that the widening of roads will be of strategic importance for border and national security.
In its order, the court appointed an oversight committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge AK Sikri to monitor three strategic “defence roads”, while the jurisdiction of the Chopra-headed high-powered committee was limited to two “non-defence” stretches, according to The Times of India.
In his resignation letter, Chopra wrote that the experience of the high-powered committee has been “very disappointing” as its role had been confined. Chopra lamented that in widening of the highways, he saw the “desecration” of the Himalayas.
Chopra also wrote that the previous recommendations and directions of the panel have been ignored or “tardily” responded to by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. He said it was unlikely that the ministry’s response would be different in the case of the “non-defence” roads, which are under the jurisdiction of the committee.
“In the circumstances, I do not see any purpose in continuing to head the HPC [high-powered committee] or indeed, even to be a part of it,” his letter was quoted as saying.
In its manifesto for the Uttarakhand Assembly polls scheduled to be held on February 14, the Bharatiya Janata Party has promised to complete the Char Dham project by the end of December.
Also read: Special report: Modi government’s highway project in Himalayas is built on lies and legal violations
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