SC to Centre: adhere to Ministry circular on roads in Char Dham - The Hindu - 09-09-2020

The Supreme Court has ordered the Centre to adhere to a Union Road Ministry circular of March 2018.

The circular had advised against building full-fledged roads cutting across the fragile Himalayan slopes while implementing the Rs.12,000-crore ambitious Char Dham project.
The bench also directed the government to undertake reafforestation of the area to make up for the loss of green cover caused by the construction.

Chardham Project:

It is aimed at ensuring better connectivity to pilgrimage centres in Uttarakhand.
The project involves developing and widening 900-km of national highways connecting the holy Hindu pilgrimage sites of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri.
The project had proposed the widening of single-lane roads into double-lanes by up to 10 metres, developing the highways and thereby improving access to the Char Dham (four shrines).