The Char Dham (more correctly, the Chhote Char Dham) is a pilgrimage route that requires devotees to visit four temple shrines in in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. Located at altitudes between 3000 to 3500metres above sea level, these are called Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

Announced by the Prime Minister of India in 2016, the Char Dham Pariyojana is aimed at improving connectivity to the four temple shrine areas mentioned above. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). And involves widening of three national highways by 10 metres. These highways include Rishikesh-Mana, Rishikesh Gangotri and Tanakpur Pithoragarh, spread over a length of 889 Km. The entire project has been divided into 53 civil works. The project was scheduled to be completed in March 2022.

In February 2018, a non governmental organisation called Citizens for Green Doon filed an application before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) challenging the construction of this road citing the various negative environmental impacts it would cause. They also highlighted the fact that the cumulative impact of the 53 sub-projects had never been considered as no environmental impact assessment was conducted for them. Several trees present in forest areas have already been cut for the project without such clearances. Another application pointed out the need for responsible muck disposal and slope stabilisation.

In September 2018, the NGT ordered that since the project was divided into smaller portions whose length was less than 100 Km, there was no need for conducting environmental impact assessment. However, given the fragile nature of the region, the NGT constituted an oversight committee that would be responsible for monitoring environmental impacts of the project. This committee was tasked with ensuring the implementation of the environment management plan that would be prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change.

This decision was challenged by the Citizens for Doon in the Supreme Court. In 2019, the Supreme Court modified the order and constituted a High Powered Committee (HPC) to “consider the cumulative and independent impact of the Char Dham Project on the entire Himalayan valleys”. The committee was also tasked with recommending measures to mitigate adverse environmental impact of the project, in consultation with experts and local communities.

Submitting its report in July 2020, the committee members unanimously acknowledged the negative impacts of this project on the environment and suggested measures to at least partially mitigate these impacts. However, the members disagreed on the width of the road, with the 13 members in favour of a two lane road with paved shoulders which would need a width of 12 metre as directed in a 2012 MoRTH circular. Five members including the Chair recommended a 5.5 metre wide road, in line with another MoRTH circular, issued in 2018. 

In September 2020, the Supreme Court accepted the recommendation of keeping the width of the road to 5.5 metre. However, the project continued to be implemented in a way that violated this order. This was followed by several different applications filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the MoRTH to comply with the Court's 2020 order.

One application was also filed by the Ministry of Defence seeking a modification in the Court's 2020 order. It was argued that widening of the highways was a matter of national security. As that would allow smooth mobilisation of military resources in the hill border areas, should the need arise.

In December 2021, the Supreme Court allowed the double lane with paved shoulder width for three strategic highways and directed that the remedial measures directed by the HPC be implemented. The Court also set up another oversight committee to assess the implementation of these measures. 

According to Mr. Aranya Ranjan, a resident of Khadi village in Uttarkashi district, sizeable cracks have developed in his and three of his neighbours' house, subsequent to the excavation for the highway. While they complained to the administration, the Patwari (the local revenue administrative official) came and pasted a notice on the affected houses stating they were no longer safe for habitation and should be evacuated. "Where are we supposed to go?," asks Mr. Ranjan. He pointed out that landowner’s associations and taxi associations in many towns along the highways had come together to protest the damage caused by the project. 

In a few villages where residents have received compensation, there are grievances about the different compensation rates used for calculating compensation. Inconsistencies in land values across administrative circles has meant that while some people have received market value for their land, while their immediate neighbours received much less. Some families have also discovered that they do not have rights to the land they have occupied and tended for generations.

Another group of community members who have been affected by the Char Dham project are the pastoralists of Uttarakhand. Mr. Ranjan says, "earlier, shepherds would use these routes during their annual migration to the bugyals (high altitude pastures). They had selected watering points and resting points for their sheep. Now this road is built with high concrete wall boundaries on both sides. The shepherds and their flocks have no way of accessing these ancient resting places. Rather than exhaust their animals by long forced marches, some have taken to transporting their animals by truck. But how is this viable for already poor shepherds?."