The Supreme Court has appointed former Justice Arjun Kumar Sikri as chairman of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) to monitor the impact of the Chard Dham project on the entire Himalayan Valley after the resignation of Prof Ravi Chopra.
The bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Surya Kant said, “The chairperson of HPC by the way of letter dated 27th January 2022 expressed the desire to relinquish the assignment, the view of the letter, the chairperson who was appointed by order of this court is discharged from the assignment. Justice Arjun Kumar Sikri, former Justice, has been appointed as the chairperson of the committee. We request the Judge the accept the assignment for chairing the committee.”
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal had suggested the name of Justice Sikri to head the HPC and submitted that Justice Sikri has already been leading the oversight committee to ensure all remedial measures are taken in the interest of the environment.
By an order dated August 8, 2019, the Supreme Court constituted the High-Powered Committee headed by Prof. Ravi Chopra. The Char Dham project aims to connect the holy sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand. When this project is completed, the pilgrimage of Char Dham can be done easily in every season.
Under this project, a 900-km long road is to be constructed of which 400 km road has been widened so far. It is being speculated that about 25,000 trees have been felled during the widening of this road and has environmentalists up in arms as it will further deforest the hills.
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NGO Citizens for Green Doon had challenged the order of September 26, 2018 of the NGT. The NGO claimed the damage caused to the ecology of the area due to this project cannot be compensated. On the same matter, the NGT approved the project considering it as a matter of larger public interest.
Case Name- Citizens for Green Doon Vs UOI