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 that extends up to the India-China border.

Justice Sikri is already chairing the oversight committee set up by the apex court in a judgment last December. This panel is tasked with ensuring that the government implements the remedial measures recommended by the high-powered committee for the environment.

Govt. mandate upheld

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 India-China border.

These highways would be developed in accordance with the Double Lane with Paved Shoulder system.

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 during the widening of roads, for quickly moving military hardware to the “very vulnerable” Indo-China border.

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