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Brain-booster / 18 Jan 2022

Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Environment Vs Defence)

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Why in News?

  • On December 14, the Supreme Court cleared the way for Government to widen three Himalayan highways. These are
  1. Rishikesh to Mana
  2. Rishikesh to Gangotri
  3. Tanakpur to Pithoragarh
  • These are part of the Char Dham Pariyojna of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

About Char Dham project

  • The ₹12,000 crore project was announced on December 23, 2016.
  • It aims at broadening the roads of about 900 km of national highways for safer, smoother and faster traffic movement.
  • They connect the holy shrines in Uttarakhand:
  1. Yamunotri
  2. Gangotri
  3. Kedarnath
  4. Badrinath
  • The project also includes the Tanakpur Pithoragarh stretch of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route.

The Controversy

  • Environmentalist groups filed an application on February 27, 2018, in the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
  • Construction of the project was challenged on the ground that development activity would have a negative impact on the Himalayan ecosystem.
  • The project would result in deforestation, excavation of hills and dumping of muck, which would lead to further landslides and soil erosion, in an already fragile environment.
  • The NGT, on September 26, 2018, observed that the length of each of these projects was less than 100 km and therefore, they did not require environmental clearance. However, it directed constitution of an ‘Oversight Committee’ to monitor environmental safeguards.
  • The order was challenged in the Supreme Court.

What happened in the Supreme Court?

  • The Supreme Court formed a high-powered committee (HPC) under environmentalist Ravi Chopra to examine the issues.
  • In July 2020, the HPC submitted two reports after members disagreed on the ideal width for hill roads.
  • In September, the Supreme Court upheld the recommendation of 4 HPC members, including Chopra, to limit the carriageway width to 5.5 m (along with 1.5 m raised footpath), based on a March 2018 guideline issued by MoRTH for mountain highways.
  • The majority report by 21 HPC members favoured a width of 12m as envisaged in the project following national highway double-lane with paved shoulder standards(DLPS).

What did respondents argue?

  • They argued that the HPC was not allowed to function independently and was given inadequate assistance by the Government.
  • No concrete action was taken on concerns related to slope stabilisation, muck disposal, restoration of damaged slopes and hill cutting activities.
  • MoRTH violated its 2018 circular and the Supreme Court’s September 2020 directive.
  • The fragile environment of the Himalayas would be severely damaged if the DLPS standard was adopted.

The defence angle

  • MoD moved an appeal before the Supreme Court in November, seeking “a double-lane road having a carriageway width of 7 m (or 7.5 m in case there is a raised kerb)” with 8-10 m formation width to “meet the requirement of the Army”.
  • While conceived primarily to facilitate the Char Dham yatras (pilgrimage) and to boost tourism, the project always had a strategic angle to it as the highways would facilitate troop movement to areas closer to the China border.

Supreme Court’s Judgement

  • The Supreme Court’s approval is conditional upon MoRTH and MoD implementing the HPC recommendations.
  • An Oversight Committee will assess the implementation, has been set up by the Supreme Court.
  • As directed, the Government will issue a formal notification in terms of the Supreme Court’s directions within two weeks
  • MoRTH and MoD will place before the Committee the steps taken to adhere to the recommendations, along with a projected timeline for complying with the remaining suggestions.