New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- Tuesday's landslides and floods in the Uttarkashi region, in the heart of the Bhagirathi Ecosensitive Zone (BESZ), have yet again highlighted the trade-offs involved in the construction of the final stretch of the Char Dham road. The forest clearance for the stretch between Tekhla and Badethi has been pending since December last year. Constructing this stretch will involve the felling of 530 trees, according to documents available on the Union environment ministry's Parivesh website. The annexures to the Zonal Master Plan of BESZ, available on the ministry's website add that a key concern is the need to protect the forests and green cover in the BESZ. "It requires minimal cutting of trees in the BESZ for road construction and avoiding multiple roads connecting a village to the state or national highways. This caution was supported by the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary in the December 9, 2017 meeting and reiterated in the May 2, 2018 meeting," the annexures said. "In the January 9, 2018 committee (NGT appointed) meeting, Chandi Prasad Bhatt (Chipko leader) referred to the immense damage potential of the Uttarkashi-Gangotri National Highway widening project currently underway. The plan for widening this stretch will fell 12,995 trees in the BESZ. Almost 6,000 deodar trees are to be felled between Jhala and Gangotri, Bhatt had pointed out that in the latter stretch," it further said, adding that the count of trees to be felled is sourced from a submission on record by union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH). Trees have already been marked on the stretch for felling according to local residents. "Authorities are preparing to fell trees. They have been marked. Trees are imperative to bind the mountains in this area and if these are cut then the avalanche from the hanging glaciers, which are expected in these areas owing to climate change, will not be arrested and the debris will slide down burying everything and everyone on its path," said Mallika Bhanot, environmentalist and member of Ganga Ahvaan, a civil society collective. HT reported on August 29 last year that residents of Uttarkashi have flagged concerns with the BRO's forest clearance application submitted to the Union Environment Ministry, for the widening of the Char Dham road through the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone. They said that conditions recommended by the SC appointed high powered committee on the Char Dham project which were referred to in SC's order dated December 14, 2021 in respect of the stretch of around 100 km connecting Uttarkashi to Gangotri and passing through the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, have been ignored. The SC order referred to the Ravi Chopra headed high powered committee's recommendations: that BRO must obtain all requisite clearances from the environment ministry; that road widening should be taken up only after detailed environment impact assessment and application of mitigation measures; that the felling of Deodar trees should be avoided; and that vulnerability evaluations and terrain assessments should be conducted . The high powered committee on Char Dham project headed by Ravi Chopra had also warned against construction of dams and other large infrastructure above the main central thrust or the paraglacial zone. According to the master plan, widening of existing roads/construction of new roads in the BESZ can be taken up only after detailed environment impact assessment and appropriate mitigation measures. The last 150 km-long stretch of Char Dham road, which will pass through the Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone, will have to adhere to a minimum width of 10m, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said in Parliament last year. Considering the strategic nature of the stretch, since it connects with the India-China border, the road needs to be wide enough to move defence equipment, the minister added. The SC cleared the project on the same grounds - national security - but Tuesday's events show that both the court and the ministries concerned may have ignored environmental realities....