Char Dham Road Project: 291 Km Out Of 825 Km Complete, Construction Delayed Due To Court Cases

The 291 km length of Chardham all weather road project is complete and an additional 366 km road is under is in different stages of progress.

Chardham Road Project was launched to provide all-weather connectivity to four major Hindu shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri located in the upper Himalayas of Uttarakhand.

Out of 53 packages covering a total length of 825 km of Chardham Road Project in 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, two packages are yet to be awarded, one package was de-sanctioned and balance 19 packages covering a length of 366 km are in different stages of progress.

This information was given by the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

Litigations related to forest and environment clearance in various Courts of Law is mentioned as the main reason for the project’s completion which was originally scheduled for completion by March 2022.

Chardham Road Project is being monitored by a High Powered Committee (HPC) for non-strategic roads (Rudrarprayag – 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 the Supreme Court.

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.

Char Dham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana

A flagship initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the programme includes widening and improvement of 825 km (existing 889 km) of national highways for providing faster and safer road connectivity from Rishikesh to Janki Chatti (Yamunotri), Gangotri, Gaurikund (Kedarnath) and Mana (Badrinath) including Tanakpur to Pithoragarh section of Kailash-Mansarovar route in Uttarakhand at an estimated cost of Rs 12,072 crore.

The National Highways selected for upgradation passes through the districts of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Champawat and Dehradun in Uttarakhand.

Laying the foundation stone in December 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the project as a tribute to those who lost their lives during flash floods in the state.

The works under Char Dham Pariyojna are being implemented on engineering procurement and construction (EPC) mode of contract. These projects are being implemented by three executing agencies of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, viz, Uttarakhand State PWD, BRO and NHIDCL.

Further, under this EPC mode of contract, the contractor is directly responsible for ensuring quality of the work as well as rectification of defects and maintenance of the project stretch for a period of four years after completion of construction.