Char Dham Road Project: Supreme Court Directs To List The Petitions In Last Week Of January

The Supreme Court on Monday listed the Char Dham Yatra road project for hearing on a Non-Miscellaneous Day in the last week of January, the interim order to keep the road width at 5.5m continuing in the meantime. In December last year, the bench of Justice Rohinton Nariman had asked the High Powered Committee, set-up by it, to consider the applications filed before the Court by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, against reducing the road width, in two weeks. The ministries had sought permission for the widening of the road in border areas and the completion of the Char Dham road project with the originally specified width. The majority report also took into account the state government's focus on reversing the migration in border areas by providing ample livelihood opportunities and ease of transportation, and said that the latest MoRTH circular on wider roads, of December 15, 2020, amending its previous circular and increasing the road width in hilly and mountainous terrains along the Indo-China border from 5.5 m to 10 m, should be accepted.