Context

Recently, the Supreme Court of India permitted the Central Government for double lane widening of the roads for the Char Dham Project in the light of the security concerns.

About

The widened route

• Agreeing with security needs highlighted by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the Supreme Court allowed widening of three hill stretches in Uttarakhand, forming part of the Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna:
  • Rishikesh to Mana
  • Rishikesh to Gangotri
  • Tanakpur to Pithoragarh
• This will be in the Double Line-Paved Shoulder (DL-PS) format with a width of 10 metres (7 metre doubleline carriageway and 1.5 metre paved shoulders on either side) as prescribed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

 About Char Dham Road Project

• The strategic Chardham project aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns –
• Yamunotri
• Gangotri
• Kedarnath
•  Badrinath
• Cost: Rs 12,000 crore
• Total Kms: 900-km appox
• The project was envisaged back in 2016.
• Even though Char Dham road project was primarily conceived to facilitate tourism and Char dham yatras, it always had a strategic angle as the highways will facilitate the seamless movement of troops to the areas that are closer to the China border.