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Joshi and Karan Singh Seek Review of 2021 Supreme Court Nod to Char Dham Road Widening

The petition cites worsening landslides to urge a return to a 5.5‑metre design.

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This judgement, if not reviewed, will lead to irreparable and immediate impact in the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone (BESZ), which is the origin valley of the national river Ganga and is also the site of the recent Dharali disaster, the letter said. (Representative photo)
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Overview

  • Veterans Murli Manohar Joshi and Karan Singh wrote to Chief Justice B. R. Gavai seeking a review and recall of the December 14, 2021 order that allowed double-lane paved-shoulder highways, with backing from about 57 co-signatories.
  • They ask the court to quash the December 15, 2020 MoRTH circular permitting wider DL‑PS roads and to reinstate the 2018 expert standard of a 5.5‑metre tarred width for mountain roads.
  • The appeal alleges that wider roads have triggered landslides and sinking zones in fragile Himalayan terrain, citing the Dharali floods and a June 2025 study reporting 811 landslide zones along the project corridor.
  • The letter flags an in‑principle approval for a bypass in the Bhagirathi Eco‑Sensitive Zone that would fell about 3,000 trees and divert 17 hectares of forest, with another stretch proposing 6,000 deodar trees for felling, in contradiction to expert‑panel advice.
  • The Char Dham Pariyojana spans roughly 825 km with about 629 km completed as of June, an oversight committee led by Justice A. K. Sikri remains in place, and no new court order has altered ongoing works.