New Delhi: The Supreme court on Tuesday gave the green signal to the Chardham road widening project in view of the security threats. A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud also constituted a monitoring committee headed by former judge AK Sikri to report the project to the Supreme court from time to time. The Monitoring Committee will receive cooperation from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Road Transport, Government of Uttarakhand and all District Judges.

In view of the increased confrontation with China in recent times, it will make it easier for the Indian Army to reach the Chinese border through this road. Earlier on November 11, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict after hearing on increasing the width of the road in Chardham project. The court had heard the arguments of both the Centre and the petitioner in detail and also asked both sides to give suggestions in writing. The strategic 900 km long Chardham project, costing Rs 12,000 crore, aims to provide all-weather connectivity to the four holy cities of Uttarakhand - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

The Central Government had sought a change from the Supreme Court in the September 2020 order asking it to limit the width of Chardham roads to 5.5 metres. The Centre had argued that these are roads leading to the Indo-China Line of Actual Control and should be allowed to widen to 10 metres keeping in view their strategic importance.

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