Char Dham Project requires Himalayan geological study

When the first of the 41 workers stranded in the Silkyara tunnel was rescued on November 28, night after a 17-day ordeal, a collective sigh of relief was breathed by the nation. Although the rescue efforts were deserving of applause, the collapse of a section of the 4.5-km Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in Uttarakhand on November 12, which ensnared the workers, gives rise to several inquiries regarding the mega infrastructure project in an ecologically fragile zone. The tunnel constitutes a segment of the Union government's ambitious Char Dham Mahamarg Pariyojana?a highway widening project spanning almost 900 km in Uttarakhand, aiming to establish all-weather connectivity to the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, and Kedarnath. In August 2019, the Supreme Court established a high-powered committee to scrutinize the cumulative and independent impact of the project on the entire Himalayan valleys.