Noted environmentalist Ravi Chopra who was invited by the Supreme Court to head the High Power Committee (HPC) on the feasibility of the Char Dham highway project has resigned. In a letter written on January 27, Chopra wrote to the Secretary General of the apex court that the committee’s recommendations have been ignored owing to which he is tendering his resignation.
“As elaborated in the HPC Final Report of 13.07.2020. the directions and recommendations made by the HPC in the past have either been ignored or tardily responded to by MoRTH (Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India),” the environmentalist wrote.
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“This experience does not inspire confidence that the response of MoRTH will be much different even in relation to the tart Non-Defence roads. The hon’ble Court has also permitted the respondents to seek legal relief for widening of the Non-Defence highways. In the circumstances. I do not see any purpose In continuing to head the HPC or indeed, even to be a part of it,” he added.
In the wake of rising tensions with China, the Supreme Court, on December 14, had accepted Union Defence Ministry’s request to widen the Char Dham road in Uttarakhand and modify the highway as a double lane corridor.
The Supreme Court while noting the environmental concerns raised by the petitioner — a non-governmental organisation named Citizens for Green Doon — the formation of an oversight committee was ordered to ensure that the environmental concerns are not neglected during the widening of the road.
Chopra however mentioned in his resignation letter that development in the Himalayas must be respectful of the sacred status that these mountains have in our country.
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“Sustainable development demands approaches that are both geologically and ecologically sound. Such development also enhances disaster-resilience and hence national security. Especially when climate challenges to slope stability are becoming unpredictable. As a member of the HPC, however, haw at close quarters the desecration of the once imp Himalayas,” he wrote.
