Army requires widened roads in Chardham highway project, govt tells SC

On Friday, the Centre told the Supreme Court that its plea asking recall of an earlier order of the court is heard on an urgent basis as the Army requires widened roads in the Chardham highway project, which goes up to the China border because of the difficulties faced there. The strategic 900-km Chardham highway project plans to render all-weather connectivity to four holy towns -- Kedarnath, Gangotri, Badrinath and Yamunotri -- in Uttarakhand. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and D Y Chandrachud was notified by Attorney General K K Venugopal that the Ministry of Defence has registered an application asking for the recall of an earlier order. They want that application to be heard urgently. Army requires a widening of the border roads in the northern sector because of the issues there, Venugopal said, adding that the court had earlier said the width should not be over 5.5 metres. The bench ordered the registry to ask for instruction from the Chief Justice of India and register the issue before the appropriate bench along with other petitions. The top court was hearing a plea filed by an NGO Citizens for Green Doon' asking for order to prevent the felling of trees without approvals on the Ganeshpur-Dehradun Road (NH-72A), which is a part of the Delhi-Dehradun expressway. The SC noted that once the forest approval is provided, there is no need for separate clearance for tree felling. Advocate Ritwik Dutta, appearing for the NGO, said that the NGT has said that permission is needed from the competent authority for tree felling, and in this case, there is no such approval. The SC said that the matter would be scheduled post-Diwali break before the appropriate bench. Image Source Also read: Road projects of 255 km length underway in Ladakh