Why in News:

=> The Supreme Court gave permission to the ambitious Chardham project of the Uttarakhand government.

Key Points:

=> Keeping in view the need of national security, the Supreme Court has given conditional permission to develop 3 national highways of strategic importance (Rishikesh to Mana, Rishikesh to Gangotri and Tanakpur to Pithoragarh) connecting the border with China in the Chardham project in Uttarakhand.

=> The Supreme Court has given permission to the Center to increase the width of the road and build a double lane highway in the all-weather highway project.

=> After getting this permission, India's access to China will become easier under the Chardham project and the Indian Army will be able to reach the borders with China in any weather.

=> The central government's Chardham project aims to provide all-weather connectivity to Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath. The cost of this 889 km long project is estimated at Rs 12,000 crore.

=> The Central Government, during the hearing of its petition, told the court that these are feeder roads for the border roads leading to the India-China Line of Actual Control.