The Dehradun based petitioner has welcomed the Supreme Court order staying the direction of the National Green Tribunal that had earlier cleared the execution of the ambitious all weather road Char Dham road project. Meanwhile, the State administration has clarified that since the Supreme Court has stayed the NGT order, only the felling of trees will be stopped till further orders while the other work on the project will continue.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had stayed the order of National Green Tribunal (NGT) which had cleared the ambitious Char Dham all-weather road project. Chief coordinator of the petitioner- Citizens For Green Doon (CFGD), Dr Nitin Pandey said that instead of treating the whole work as a single project, the Government had divided it into small segments to avoid fulfilling the requirement for environmental impact assessment whereas work on the project is exerting a negative impact on the environment.

Earlier in September, the NGT had constituted a committee to monitor the project while giving its nod with some safeguards in view of the larger public interest and the country's security in the construction of highway.

However, CFGD challenged this stating that the order passed by a bench of the tribunal which was not as per the apex court order of August 27.

The SC bench stayed the order of tribunal and sought response from the Centre and State Governments by November 15. CFGD chief coordinator Dr Nitin Pandey said that the SC order had vindicated the concerns of the petitioner.

Meanwhile, talking to media persons on Tuesday, the additional chief secretary Om Prakash said that the Supreme Court had ordered a stay on the NGT order.

He said that until further orders, felling of trees will be stopped. However, other works will be continued for public convenience.