The Supreme Court of India has named Justice (retd) AK Sikri as Chairperson of the High Powered Committee (HPC), of the Chardham project. The previous Chairperson Professor Ravi Chopra had resigned from his post in February 2022, after being appointed as the chairperson of the HPC on August 8, 2019. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant accepted the resignation of Professor Ravi Chopra as chairperson of the committee after he wrote a letter in January wishing to relinquish his post.
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Important information:
- The HPC would look after the environmental concerns and other issues related to the Chardham project as well as the cumulative and independent impact of the Chardham project on the entire Himalayan valley.
- On December 14, last year, the top court had allowed double lane widening of the strategic Chardham highway project in Uttarakhand, observing that the country’s security concerns may change over time and the recent past has thrown serious national security challenges.
- The top court had said while setting up an oversight committee headed by Justice (retd) Sikri to report to it directly on the ambitious 900-km project, which goes up to the border with China.