7-Dec-2022: Char Dham All Weather Road Project

Out of 53 packages covering a total length of 825 km of Chardham Road Project in the State of Uttarakhand, 43 packages with a total length of 683 km have been sanctioned.  Out of these, 21 packages covering a length of 291 km are complete 2 packages are yet to be awarded, 1 package was de-sanctioned and balance 19 packages covering a length of 366 km are in different stages of progress. This project was originally scheduled for completion by March 2022.

However, the programme was delayed mainly due to litigation related to forest and environment clearance in various Courts of Law.  This project is being reviewed/monitored by a High Powered Committee (HPC) for non-strategic roads (Rudraprayag – Gaurikund and Dharasu Bend – Jankichatti) and an oversight Committee for strategic roads (Rishikesh – Mana, Rishikesh – Gangotri  and Tanakpur – Pithoragarh) constituted as per the direction of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.  The sanction and completion of the balance part of the project depends on finalization of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) and execution of the works as per the directions of the above Committees. 

17-Jul-2020: Shri Gadkari Chairs key meeting on Chaardhaam All Weather Road Project

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari today reviewed the CHAARDHAAM ROAD PROJECT in the State of Uttarakhand via Video Conference. Union Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Information & Broadcasting, and Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Shri Prakash Javadekar, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat, Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways Gen (Retd) V K Singh and the State’s Ministers of Environment & Forest, PWD among others participated in the meeting. Union Secretaries of Road Transport & Highways, Environment and Forests, DG Roads (MoRTH), DG (BRO) and senior officers of the two Ministries, as well as from State Government, also attended.

Shri Gadkari called for expeditious disposal of all pending issues and for completing land acquisition at the earliest. He emphasised that this project is of great national importance and should be handled from that perspective by all concerned. He requested CM Uttarakhand to personally review issues pending at the level of State Government especially those related to environment, land acquisition etc. and asked for strict monitoring and cautioned against deliberate delays.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Environment Minister Shri Javadekar stressed upon taking up of project implementation by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways based on the recommendations of High Powered Committee. The Environment Minister further assured to extend all required cooperation from the Ministry for an early completion of Projects.

Shri Javadekar informed that the Zonal Master Plan(ZMP) for the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, prepared by the Government of Uttarakhand and appraised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, has been approved on 16th July, 2020. The ZMP is based on watershed approach and includes governance in the area of forest and wildlife, watershed management, irrigation, energy, tourism, public health and sanitation, road infrastructure, etc.

It was further decided that Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change will review the pending issues related to environment and forest clearances with the officials of Ministry of Road Transport and State Government Departments.

CM Uttarakhand Shri Rawat assured to personally review and thrash out all issues pertaining to the project pending at State level, including faster land acquisition. He requested Shri Gadkari to consider a proposal being worked by the State Govt for NH connectivity to Gairsain, the summer capital of Uttarakhand. He said, DPR is being prepared for the same. Shri Gadkari assured that the same will be considered expeditiously as soon as it is received in his Office.

The Chardham Project proposes to connect Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath which host Chaardhaam Yatra in the State of Uttarakhand. The all-weather Chaardhaam Road has in all 53 projects of 826 km length, involving an investment of Rs 12000 crore.

26-May-2020: Gadkari inaugurates the breakthrough event of Chamba Tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated the breakthrough event of Chamba Tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana through video conference mode. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) achieved this major milestone by digging up a 440 m long Tunnel below the busy Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road Highway (NH 94). The breakthrough was completed amidst threat of COVID-19 and nationwide lockdown. The construction of tunnel was a challenging task in terms of weak soil strata, continuous water seepage, heavy built up area on top thereby chances of sinking of houses, land acquisition issues, restrictions during COVID lockdown etc.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, this Rishikesh-Dharasu-Gangotri road in Uttarakhand has a very significant role from socio economic and religious point of view. He said, opening of this tunnel will ease out congestion though the Chamba town and reduce the distance by one kilometer and journey through the town will take only ten minutes as compared to thirty minutes earlier. Shri Gadkari lauded BRO for working in some of the very difficult terrain and ensuring implementation of critical projects. He said that he has been informed about completion of the project by October 2020, ie, three months ahead of the schedule.

Director General of Border Roads Organisation, Lt Gen Harpal Singh said, BRO started the work on North Portal of this tunnel in Jan 2019 but work on South Portal could be started only after Oct 2019 due to stiff resistance from locals on account of safety concerns and compensation issues. To compensate for the loss in time, day and night working shifts along with use of modern technology facilitated the breakthrough. BRO is a key stake holder in prestigious Chardham project and breakthrough of this tunnel has been achieved by Team Shivalik. Latest Austrian technology has been used in its construction. The tunnel will be through for traffic by October this year, almost three months before its scheduled date of completion.

Under prestigious Chardham Project costing around Rs 12,000 Crore with approximate length of 889 Km, BRO is constructing 250 Km of National Highways leading to holy shrine Gangotri and Badrinath. Majority of the works are progressing ahead of schedule and BRO is slated to complete four projects by October this year.

BRO has been entrusted 251 Km of stretches  costing Rs 3000 Cr approx. consisting of 17 Projects on road Rishikesh – Dharasu (NH-94) from Km 28 onwards of 99 Km length, Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108) of 110 Km length and Joshimath to Mana ( NH-58) of 42 Km length. Out of these, 10 Projects consisting of 151 Km road length have been sanctioned which are worth Rs 1702 Cr and works are under progress as under:-

1. Rishikesh – Dharasu( NH-94) , 99 Km length (Five  projects).
2. Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108), 22 Km length (Two  projects). Five projects of BESZ are yet to be sanctioned.
3. Joshimath to Mana (NH-58) 32 Km (Three Projects). Two projects are yet to be sanctioned

BRO is slated to complete four Projects aggregating a length of 53 Km out of 10 ongoing projects ahead of their scheduled, date of completion as under:-

1. Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108) KM 110-123 by June 2020.
2. Rishikesh- Dharasu Highway (NH-94) Km28-59 by July 2020.
3. Rishikesh- Dharasu Highway (NH-94) Km 59-65 including Chamba Tunnel by October 2020.
4. Chinialisaur bye pass on Rishikesh- Dharasu Highway (NH-94) by October 2020.

A Tunnel of 440 mtr length to decongest busy Chamba town is being constructed out of these 10 projects. This is a Horse shoe type tunnel with 10 mtr carriage way width and 5.5 mtr vertical clearance. The sanctioned cost of this tunnel is 107.07 Crore. The awarded cost is Rs 86 Crore, including 43 Crore for Tunnel and 43 Crore for 4.2 Km approach roads to tunnel.

16-Aug-2019: SC clears Chardham highway project

The Supreme Court has cleared the decks for the Chardham highway project, which will connect four holy places in the hills of Uttarakhand through 900-km all-weather roads, by modifying an NGT order to constitute a fresh committee to look into environmental concerns.

It ordered the Ministry of Environment and Forest to form the high-powered committee (HPC) by August 22.

NGO Citizen for Green Doon had petitioned the apex court, after the National Green Tribunal on September 26 last year gave its conditional approval to the connectivity project in view of larger public interest, saying the project would cause an irreversible damage to regional ecology.

The NGT had constituted a committee headed by a former Uttarakhand High Court Judge to monitor the project.

Hearing the NGO's petition against the project, the apex court bench only modified the September NGT order by constituting a fresh high-powered committee (HPC). The top court asked the committee to submit its recommendations within four months.

The HPC shall hold quarterly meetings thereafter to ensure compliance and may suggest any further measure after each review meeting. The committee shall consider the cumulative and independent impact of the Chardham project on the entire Himalayan valleys and for that purpose, the HPC will give directions to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

The HPC should consider whether revision of the full Chardham project should at all take place with a view to minimize the adverse impact on the environment and social life. It will identify the sites where quarrying has started recommend measures required to stabilise the area and for safe disposal of muck.

It will also assess the environmental degradation — loss of forest lands, trees, green cover, water resources etc. — on the wildlife and will direct mitigation measures.

In Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone (Gangotri to Uttarkashi), the HPC will make special provisions in its report keeping in mind the guidelines given under the notification of the Bhagirathi ESZ to avoid violations and any environmental damage. The HPC will also suggest the areas in which afforestation should be taken and the kind of saplings to be planted.

In case of non-survival of any sapling, further plantation should be done and compensatory afforestation should be ten times the number of trees cut.

27-Nov-2018: SC asks Centre "Why it should not stay the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) clearance to the project?".

The proposed four-lane expressway to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand has been among the flagship projects of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

The 900-kilometre road network in the sensitive mountains of Uttarakhand has drawn skepticism from environmental activists who fear the highways and the tourists they would bring in will be at the cost of the ecological balance.

On November 26, Advocate Sanjay Parekh told the apex court that Uttarakhand had fragile mountains and the proposed project could do as much harm as 10 hydro-electric power projects. He was representing Citizens for Green Doon, a non-government organisation that has petitioned against the NGT nod to the project.

The green bench cleared the expressways on September 26, albeit with a committee to monitor it. Parekh pointed out to the SC Bench of Rohinton F Nariman and Navin Sinha that the tribunal has formed 15-20 such panels of late. In order to circumvent environmental clearances the government was building bits and pieces of the project. Undermining ecological concerns could lead to another disaster like the one in Kedarnath in 2013. The bustling temple town resembled a ghost town once the Chorabari lake collapsed after a cloudburst during intense rain in July 2013, resulting in a flash flood.

The SC Bench asked the Centre to file its response in two weeks.

8-Sep-2018: Adhere to Ministry circular on roads in Char Dham: SC to Centre

The Supreme Court ordered the Centre to adhere to a Union Road Ministry circular of March 2018, which had advised against building full-fledged roads cutting across the fragile Himalayan slopes, while implementing the ₹12,000-crore ambitious Char Dham project for better connectivity to pilgrimage centres in Uttarakhand.

A Bench led by Justice Rohinton Nariman also directed the government to undertake re-afforestation of the area to make up for the loss of green cover caused by the construction.

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) — Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath.

Environmentalist groups, led by the Dehradun-based Citizens for Green Doon, had moved the apex court after they failed in the National Green Tribunal. The petitioners had contended that the project was proceeding without environmental clearances and the debris was being disposed haphazardly. Earlier, the NGT had found no need for an environmental clearance. The petitioners had informed the apex court about the extensive excavation of the eco-sensitive landscape for the project. They had contended that the project, which extends across nearly 900 km of hilly roads, was an environmental threat.

The government had said the programme for development of road connectivity was launched by the Prime Minister on December 27, 2016. It had said most of the project works were sanctioned before the issuance of the Ministry’s circular on March 23, 2018.

20-Feb-2018: Cabinet approves Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in Uttarakhand as part of ‘Chardham Mahamarg Pariyojana’

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval to the construction of 4.531 km long 2-Lane Bi-Directional Silkyara Bend - Barkot Tunnel with escape passage including approaches on Dharasu -Yamunotri section between Chainage 25.400 Km. and Chainage 51.000 Km in Uttarakhand.

The project will be falling along NH-134 (old NH-94) in the State of Uttarakhand.  The project will be built under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Mode. This is funded under NH (O) Scheme of Ministry of RT&H and forms part of ambitious Chardham Plan.

The construction period of the project is 4 years. The civil construction cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 1119.69 crore, while the total project cost is Rs. 1383.78 crore, which is inclusive of the cost towards Land Acquisition & Rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities as well as Maintenance and Operation cost of tunnel for 4 years.

The construction of this tunnel will provide all weather connectivity to Yamunotri, one of the dham on Chardham Yatra, encouraging regional socio-economic development, trade and tourism within the country. It will reduce the travel distance from Dharasu to Yamunotri by about 20 km and travel time by about an hour. The proposed tunnel will save number of trees that would have been required to be removed in the road improvement of 25.600 km, had the original alignment been followed.

The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), through National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), a wholly state owned company, formed in 2014 for development of highways in states on the international borders.

The project aims at construction of 4.531 Km long two lane Bi-Directional tunnel (along with 328m approach road) with escape passage on Dharasu –Yamunotri in the State of Uttarakhand.

11-May-2017: Rail Connectivity for Chardham Pilgrimage

The Indian Railways is taking the significant step to commence the Final Location survey for a single BG line rail connectivity for the Chardham Pilgrimage.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), a Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways has been entrusted to undertake the Final Location Survey for rail connectivity to Chardham and Chardham Yatra (Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath & Kedarnath via Dehradun & Karnprayag) in the State of Uttarakhand. As alignment will pass through the rugged mountainous terrain of mighty Himalayas, the Railway has to meet the challenges of railway construction integrating the unique challenges of the terrain and adverse geology along with limits of load, capacity, safety and speed. The four Dhams have their varied and distinctive elevation levels along with unique spiritual significance. The Yamunotri tracing the origin of River Yamuna is situated at 3293 m above Mean Sea Level (MSL) while the Gangotri tracing the origin of River Ganga is situated at 3408 m above MSL. The Kedarnath housing the Shrine of Lord Shiva, is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas at 3583 m above MSL, while Badrinath housing the Shrine of Lord Vishnu is at 3133 m above MSL. The existing railheads or the nearest railway stations to the proposed Chardham connectivity are Doiwala, Rishikesh and Karanprayag (on the upcoming Rishikesh-Karanprayag new rail line under construction by RVNL) at mean MSL ranging from 400-825 m. The proposed Chardham rail line connecting to 2000 m MSL and above will be an challenging engineering feat.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited has undertaken a Reconnaissance Engineering Survey (REC) in the year 2014-15 of the rail connectivity project and has submitted its report in October 2015, recommending two take-off points one from existing Doiwala station and one from Karanprayag station (under construction). For the Gangotri alignment, the proposed rail link takes off from Doiwala station to connect upto Manneri at 1270 m above MSL marking a route of 131 km via Uttarkashi. For Yamunotri, the alignment is proposed to take off midway from Gangotri link at Uttarkashi making a “Y” connection and terminating at Palar (1265 m above MSL) with a take- off route length of 22 km. For the Kedarnath alignment, the proposed line will take off from proposed Karanprayag station and terminating at Sonprayag(1650 m above MSL) via Saikot with a route length of 99 km. The Badrinath alignment will take off midway from Kedarnath link at Saikot making a “Y” connection and terminating at Joshimath (1733 m above MSL) with a route length of 75 km. As per the Reconnaissance Survey the total route length is 327 km at estimated cost of Rs. 43,292 Cr. The REC Survey recommends 21 new stations, 61 tunnels totaling to 279 km tunnel length and 59 bridges. The alignment will have ruling gradient of 1 in 80 with a maximum degree of curvature of 5 degree.

Chardham, is one of the unique cornerstones of Hindu pilgrimage which is intertwined to mystical and spiritual aspirations of every devout Hindu. Large number of pilgrims flock to Chardham while foreign and domestic tourist  are attracted to trekking & sightseeing in the state of Uttarakhand. The Railway envisages bringing in a new era of safe and comfortable travel through this Chardham Rail Connectivity Project. Alongside, Indian Railways through Rail Vikas Nigam Limited is concurrently pursuing its ambitious project of construction of new rail line between Rishikesh and Karanprayag and efforts are underway to fast-track the completion of the project. These rail projects shall add momentum to the progress of the State by connecting far-flung areas besides boosting opportunities for the tourism and economic development. When completed, these rail projects would script their own unique engineering marvels in the history world railways.