Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said that nearly 74 per cent of the work on the ambitious Rs 12,000 crore Chardham all-weather road project has been completed.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, the minister stated that national highway projects are taken up in the Himalayan region keeping in view traffic and strategic requirements.

“Detailed Project Report is prepared after evaluating the geological, geotechnical, hydrological and topographical conditions of terrain before taking up any development work on national highways in Himalayan region,” Gadkari said.

Chardham project progress

The ambitious Chardham project, aims to improve five existing National Highways connecting the sacred sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath, including the Tanakpur to Pithoragarh section of the Kailas-Mansarovar yatra, covers a total length of approximately 825 km.

Gadkari stated that out of this 825 km length, 616 km of road development has been successfully completed.

Chardham Road Project was launched to provide all-weather connectivity to four major Hindu shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri located in the upper Himalayas of Uttarakhand.

Regular monitoring

In August 2019, under the directives of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) established a high-powered committee (HPC).

This committee comprises representatives from various esteemed institutions, including the Physical Research Laboratory, Wildlife Institute of India, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Central Soil Conservation Research Institute, National Institute of Disaster Management, and Forest Research Institute.

The HPC’s mandate is to assess both the cumulative and independent impacts of the Chardham Projects on the entire Himalayan Valleys and to provide directives concerning environmental impacts. The Supreme Court also constituted an “Oversight Committee” to ensure the implementation of the HPC’s recommendations, particularly for the strategic roads such as Rishikesh – Mana, Rishikesh – Gangotri, and Tanakpur – Pithoragarh, Gadkari