Collective to appeal against SC’s 2021 Char Dham verdict
The 2021 judgment had upheld double-laned road works on certain stretches of the project tagged as ‘strategic roads’.
The collective also decided to reach out to Centre’s think-tank NITI Aayog on the issues faced by the pan-Himalayan region in the country. A collective of scientists, environmentalists and politicians, including BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi and former Union minister Karan Singh, has decided to pursue an appeal against the Supreme Court’s 2021 Char Dham project judgment, to conserve upper reaches of Himalayas in the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive zone. The collective wants a pause on plans to fell over 6,000 trees on the Gangotri stretch.
The 2021 judgment had upheld double-laned road works on certain stretches of the project tagged as ‘strategic roads’.
In the light of the recurring disasters across Himalayan states, this collective met on Wednesday to deliberate on the threats facing the ecologically fragile region. The members adopted a slew of resolutions, including challenging the SC judgment, seeking demarcation of eco-sensitive zones in upper reaches of Himalayas and buffer zones around glaciers, and green bonuses for hill states for their ecosystem services.
Share
