DEHRADUN: After expressing his protest at the manner in which the meeting of the high-powered committee (HPC) — constituted by the Supreme Court last year to assess the environmental impact of the Char Dham highway project on the Uttarakhand hills — was called without his approval last week, Ravi Chopra, chairman of the HPC, on Monday said that he has decided to hold the meeting only after SC hearing in the matter next week.
In his letter sent to the SC secretary on October 5, Chopra had written, “On the one hand, hill cutting is continuing...and on the other, environment and highway ministry officials and the state government are not co-operating… Their actions/inactions have made the HPC non-functional.” In his letter, he had also mentioned “blatant violations” in the high-profile project.
“I have received photographs of tree-felling and fresh hill cutting at various stretches which shows double lane paved shoulder with 10 meters tarred road,” Chopra said adding that this was a clear violation of SC orders. Reacting to the allegations, a senior official at road transport and highways ministry said that there are no violations.