Government says, no link between Uttarakhand floods and highway construction for Char Dham project 

Construction and widening of roads for the Char Dham project did not contribute to the Uttarakhand floods disaster, Parliament was informed on Monday.

The strategic 900-km Char Dham highway project aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath -- in Uttarakhand.

"As per reports received from Government of Uttarakhand, Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Defence Geo-informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), construction and widening of roads for the Char Dham project did not contribute to the Uttarakhand floods disaster," Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

As per scientific evidence available with the state government, this was is purely a natural event with no indication of human footprint directly attributable to its cause, he added.

The Char Dham project is being implemented at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore.

On February 7, a glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district which caused a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river, killing at least 70 people.