Review Char Dham road order: Joshi, Karan Singh to CJI, Pg8.

Key Highlights:

• Murli Manohar Joshi and Karan Singh petitioned the CJI to review the Supreme Court's 2021 order allowing 12-metre widening of Char Dham roads.
• The petition cites increased landslides and sinking zones due to the road widening project.
• They propose adopting a 5.5-metre intermediate road width instead of the current 12-metre standard.
• The letter highlights the potential for "irreparable" damage to the Bhagirathi Eco-sensitive Zone.

Detailed Insights:

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH)'s 2020 circular mandated the widening to a double-lane paved shoulder format, with a 10 m tarred road and 12 m formation width.
• The Supreme Court in 2021 upheld the Centre’s plan to widen highways to facilitate strategic feeder roads to border areas near China, leading to the current controversy.
• The petitioners argue that the 12-metre width violates a 2018 MoRTH circular recommending a 5.5 m width for hill roads, and that the wider roads are exacerbating landslide risks.
• The Char Dham Pariyojana involves widening approximately 825 km of highways in the Himalayas, with about 629 km reportedly completed as of June 2025.
• A bypass project in the Bhagirathi eco-sensitive zone, approved in principle, requires felling approximately 3,000 trees and impacting 17 hectares of forest area.
• The Uttarakhand government has sought nearly Rs 5,700 crore in disaster relief due to damages from this year's monsoon, with losses estimated around Rs 5,000 crore.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Char Dham Pariyojana: An infrastructure project to improve connectivity to the four major pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand.
• Bhagirathi Eco-sensitive Zone: An ecologically fragile area around the Bhagirathi River, requiring special environmental protection measures.
• Double-Lane Paved Shoulder (DL-PS): A road configuration with two lanes and paved shoulders on each side, allowing for smoother traffic flow.