Char Dham project: Detailed geological study is needed before infra activity in Himalayas, says environmentalist Ravi Chopra
Silkyara tunnel was carried out on Tuesday night after a 17-day ordeal, the nation heaved a collective sigh of relief. While the rescue efforts deserve applause, the collapse of a portion of the 4.5-km Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in Uttarakhand on November 12, which trapped the workers, raises multiple questions about the mega infrastructure project in an ecologically fragile zone. The tunnel is part of the Union government’s ambitious Char Dham Mahamarg Pariyojana.
It is a highway widening project for almost 900 km in Uttarakhand to provide all-weather connectivity to the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. In August 2019, the Supreme Court set up a high-powered committee to examine the “cumulative and independent” impact of the project “on the entire Himalayan valleys”.
In January 2022, Ravi Chopra, chairman of the committee, resigned, citing the court’s decision to overlook the recommendations of some members (including him) to limit the width of the highways in view of ecological considerations.
The environmentalist, in an interview with Indulekha Aravind, warns that accidents like the tunnel collapse are a result of ignoring safeguards and rushing construction. Edited excerpts:
Why do such tunnel collapses occur? Are there safeguards that could mitigate the impact?
The Himalayan region is full of geological faults and shear zones, which often have hard rocks that are fractured and weakly joined or stacked upon one another. Detailed and very careful geological investigations are required before undertaking any infrastructural activity in such regions.
