The Supreme Court on Friday asked its former judge, Justice A.K. Sikri, to head the high-powered committee which independently monitors the environmental impact of the Char Dham road project in the Himalayas and extends up to the India-China border.
A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud requested the retired judge to take up the reins of the committee after its chairperson, Ravi Chopra, relinquished the assignment in a letter dated January 27, 2022.
Justice Sikri is already chairing the oversight committee set up by the apex court in a judgment in December last. This panel is tasked with ensuring that the government implements the remedial measures recommended by the high-powered committee for the environment.
Crucial highways
The judgment had upheld the government’s mandate to broaden three Himalayan highways considered crucial by the Ministry of Defence for quick troop build-up along the Indo-China border.
Three national highways - Rishikesh to Mana, Rishikesh to Gangotri and Tanakpur to Pithoragarh - act as feeder roads to the northern border with China. The court had said it cannot possibly ‘second-guess’ or ‘interrogate’ defence needs. These highways would be developed in accordance with the Double Lane with Paved Shoulder (DLPS) system.
On Friday, the court discharged Mr. Chopra from the assignment and requested Justice Sikri to take up the additional job as chairperson of the high-powered committee, which was originally set up in August 2019.
Landslip threat
Justifying the broadening of roads in the ecologically fragile Himalayan ranges, the government had argued in court that the armed forces cannot surrender the defence of the nation to threats of landslip the widening of Himalayan roads, for quickly moving military hardware to the “very vulnerable” Indo-China border, may cause.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal had submitted that crucial defence equipment such as the Brahmos or Vajra missile launchers and Smerch rocket carriers need room to maneuver the tough terrain and reach the border.
“There is a Chinese build-up in the Tibetan region... Today we are facing a situation that the country has to be defended. All the three wings of the armed forces have to combine to defend the nation. We have to ensure that every physical, technological and financial facility is made available to the armed forces. The Army has a stupendous task to reach the passes and the line of control. The defence forces cannot fold their hands and say ‘oh, landslide may happen, we will give up this road to the border’. If it is a landslide threat, we will have to deal with it,” he had stated.
