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Despite a Supreme Court-appointed panel having recommended an environment impact assessment (EIA) of the Gangotri-Dharasu stretch of the Char Dham highway project, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has dismissed the need for such an assessment.
In July 2020, a high powered committee that was constituted to ensure the sustainability of the project, had underlined that ‘road widening should only be undertaken after detailed EIAs and mitigation measures’.
“It is submitted that EC [environmental clearance] may not be required for the said purpose and hence necessity of EC, as brought out in the meeting under the chairmanship of Pr (principal) Secretary of MoF Govt of Uttarakhand, may be reviewed,” the BRO stated in its letter dated August 19.
Also, it is important to note that the Gangotri-Dharasu route falls in the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone (BESZ) and the widening of the road without EIA would involve clearing 17.5 hectares of forests.
The controversial Char Dham Road project has faced opposition by environmentalists and experts due to the allegedly unsustainable nature of construction in the fragile Himalayan region.
In the years leading to 2021, while the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways sought the widening of the road’s carriageway to 10 metres from the stipulated 5.5 metres, the apex court declined to entertain the request.
The Supreme Court finally obliged only after the Union Ministry of Defence intervened and asked for the widening of roads for the purpose of mobiling heavy military hardware such as BrahMos missiles and missile launchers.
Thus, the issue of national security paved the way for the neglect of the environment as argued by environment conservators.
According to a study titled More than one landslide per road kilometer – surveying and modeling mass movements along the Rishikesh-Joshimath (NH-7) highway, Uttarakhand, India, the entire Upper Ganga basin is susceptible to extreme rainfall events and climate change projections – although subject to high uncertainties – indicate a trend towards more frequent extreme events due to elevation-dependent warming and a likely increase of summer monsoon precipitation by four to 25 per cent.
“In addition, exposure to landslides is likely to increase in Uttarakhand as the Char Dham National Highway project gets implemented. Road construction and increased traffic volumes attract more people, who will strive for new economic opportunities associated with sites along roads. These sites are often more susceptible to landslides as construction often implies vegetation removal and slope destabilization,” the study noted.