Modi's pet Char Dham road widening project gets SC nod

New Delhi, Jan 11: The Supreme Court on Friday gave a green signal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project to build an ambitious 899-km-long all-weather Char Dham road.

A bench of justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saran asked the Centre to file its affidavit on a plea to stay the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order which had cleared the projects and set up a committee to oversee it.

The top court, however, said the construction of stalled projects under the plan will remain stayed till further orders.

The famous Char Dham pilgrimage in Uttarakhand comprises four holy sites for Hindus - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath - and is visited by millions of tourists every year.

Following the 2013 Uttarakhand floods the Char Dham National Highway (NH) connectivity programme was launched launched by Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government.