The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has mentioned that the proposed widening of the Chardham challenge’s Gangotri-Dharasu stretch within the Bhagirathi Eco-Delicate Zone (BESZ) is just not in violation of Supreme Court docket’s December 2021 order, which had inexperienced lit the challenge conditionally with instructions for atmosphere safety.
In its September 3 letter to the Uttarkashi divisional forest officer (DFO), the BRO mentioned that the Supreme Court docket (SC) had in its December 2021 judgement notified the Rishikesh-Gangotri highway as a strategic highway and allowed widening and rehabilitation with paved shoulders.
The company made this defence in response to a illustration of Uttarkashi-based civil society members despatched to the Union Surroundings Ministry. Himalayi Nagrik Drishti Manch, a civil society organisation, had alleged that BRO was widening the Gangotri-Dharasu stretch within the fragile BESZ with out due environmental impression evaluation research and had proposed to construct a bypass opposite to suggestions by the apex court docket appointed high-powered committee (HPC).
It had sought cancellation of two proposals looking for forest clearance for parts of the widening work. The Gangotri-Dharasu stretch falls within the fragile Bhagirathi Eco-Delicate Zone (BESZ), a 4,157 sq km expanse between Gangotri and Uttarkashi city. The BESZ was notified in 2012 to guard River Ganga’s ecology and watershed close to its origin.
The SC’s oversight committee thought of the proposal in October 2022, BRO mentioned. The committee, the BRO added, “accepted that the bypass proposed on this stretch at Sukhi high, Netala, Garampani, appears extra sensible.” Nevertheless, it additionally mentioned that elements associated to hill reducing, muck era, tree reducing, transplantation, execution time, expenditure, public conveniences, and issues have to be quantified and evaluated, the BRO famous. The HPC had really helpful to the SC that the Netala bypass must be dropped as a consequence of adversarial environmental and social impacts.
The Indian Specific had in August reported on the BRO’s submission to the ministry that the highway widening doesn’t require both EIA or an environmental clearance, which was opposite to the HPC’s suggestions recorded in its order by the SC.
BRO Commander Vivek Srivastava didn’t provide any touch upon the problem.
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