Former union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi, Karan Singh and others have written to the Chief Justice of India, urging judicial reconsideration of the Supreme Court’s 2021 judgment upholding the road widening under the Char Dham Pariyojana in Uttarakhand – in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region.
 
The appeal cites recurring and escalating natural disasters across the Himalayan region—including the recent Dharali flash flood, cloudbursts in Chamoli and Rudraprayag, and landslides in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, and urges urgent judicial review of the Supreme Court's verdict dated December 14, 2021 (reported in (2023) 17 SCC 711) that sanctioned Double Lane with Paved Shoulder (DL-PS) road-widening under the Char Dham Pariyojana.

The letter says that the 2021 judgment reversed earlier directions advocating a more sustainable Intermediate Width (IW) road design suited to the fragile Himalayan terrain, citing defence requirements as justification. “However, real-world impacts have demonstrated that the implementation of DL-PS standards has increased the region’s vulnerability to disasters, thereby undermining both local safety and national security,” it says. 

The appeal, signed and endorsed by 57 signatories including former MP Kunwar Rewati Raman Singh, Minister of Panchayati Raj, Himachal Pradesh, Anirudh Singh, MPs Ranjit Ranjan and Ujjwal Raman Singh, ideologue-activist KN Govindacharya and many civil society figures including concerned citizens, environmental experts and civil society representatives such as Ramachandra Guha, Paritosh Tyagi, Himanshu Thakkar and Shekhar Pathak, have raised key concerns and evidence of escalating environmental disasters over the past decade like Kedarnath Tragedy (2013), Glacial Avalanche – Rishi Ganga (2021), Chamoli Glacier Burst (2021), Himachal Pradesh Floods (2023) and Dharali Mudslide & Avalanche (2025).

Their appeal says that the frequency and intensity of landslides, cloudbursts, and GLOFs (Glacial Lake Outburst Floods) have surged, aggravated by unscientific development and climate change. “As per a 2025 Supreme Court observation, Himachal Pradesh is on the verge of vanishing from the map if the current pace of ecological degradation continues.”

The appeal characterizes the project as “unscientific infrastructure development”, as DL-PS road construction involves extensive hill-cutting and deforestation, dumping of muck into rivers, disruption of natural springs and aquifers and loss of forest soils critical for carbon sequestration.

Multiple infrastructure projects like roads, railways, and hydropower are being developed simultaneously, exponentially increasing the environmental burden on already vulnerable landscapes.

The destructive impact of DL-PS construction has led to collapses of multi-storeyed hotels illegally built in ecologically sensitive zones, destruction of critical forest cover protecting slopes from avalanches and frequent road blockages on strategic defence routes ( Badrinath, Gangotri).

“A June 2025 study revealed 811 landslide zones along the Char Dham road corridor, predominantly triggered by hill-cutting.  The 15.12.2020 circular of MoRTH, cited in the Supreme Court's 2021 judgment, prescribes DL-PS standards even for border-bound feeder roads, ignoring terrain fragility and contradicting MoRTH’s own 2018 circular that called for IW configuration in hilly areas,” the appeal notes.

“The Court stated it ‘cannot second-guess defence needs’, but evidence now shows that DL-PS roads have become counterproductive, hampering defence and emergency movement due to frequent road failures.”

Recurring disasters in the Himalayas inflict massive economic damages to the nation as a result of which the Uttarakhand has sought Rs 5,700 crore for disaster relief in 2025 monsoon, Kedarnath $3.8 billion in damages during 2013 floods, Chamoli Rs 1,500 crore hydropower loss in 2021 glacier burst, and  $1.2 billion regional flood damages. “Disaster-related losses are rising due to self-destructive development models that prioritize short-term infrastructure gains over long-term ecological stability.”

The signatories say that the Ganga-Himalayan basin supports 600 million people. Rapid glacial melt, ecosystem destruction and river destabilization threaten India's water security, food systems, and national resilience.

The Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone (BESZ), one of the last pristine stretches of the Ganga is now under threat due to proposed tree felling (up to 9,000 deodar trees) for DL-PS widening. The recent Dharali disaster occurred here, reinforcing the need for extreme caution.

They have called the apex court and concerned authorities to review and recall the judgment which upheld the MoRTH’s 2020 circular and authorized DL-PS standards across the Char Dham project.

"Quash the 15.12.2020 MoRTH Circular and reinstate the 2018 MoRTH circular mandating Intermediate Width (IW) roads in hilly and mountainous terrain, which correctly recognized the limitations and dangers of DL-PS design in such regions and uphold Article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution," the appeal said.