NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Centre to go ahead with its ambitious ‘Char Dham’ project to provide all-weather connectivity of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath and refused to stay ongoing construction work but said any new project under the scheme must be undertaken after getting the environment impact assessment (EIA) clearance.There are 53 separate and independent projects under the ‘Char Dham’ programme out of which work is on for 28 projects while 25 are yet to start under the scheme which is spread over 900 km. The projects include widening of roads, construction of bypass, tunnels, bridges and road side drain among other things.The project was opposed by some NGOs and local residents of Uttarakhand saying the construction work would damage the environment and disturb the ecological balance. They contended that EIA clearance was not taken before the construction. Their plea, however, was rejected by the National Green Tribunal which held that the statutory EIA under the Environment Protection Act was not required in view of exemption granted through notification issued in 2013.Clearing the project, the tribunal, however, had put in place requisite safeguards in view of the larger public interest and appointed a committee of experts headed by former Uttarakhand high court judge UC Dhyani to oversee the implementation of Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project. The committee also comprises representatives of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Institute of Disaster Management, Central Soil Conservation Research Institute, GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment, Forest Research Institute, secretary of Environment and Forest Department and District Magistrates concerned.Challenging the order of the tribunal, NGO ‘Citizens for Green Doon’ approached the Supreme Court contending that ongoing work was "blatantly illegal" and the debris generated during construction was being directly thrown along the slopes next to the road which slides down directly into the rivers. Advocate Sanjay Parekh said the extent of damage to the environment by the project would virtually be equal to damage done by building of 10 hydro power projects in the hilly state.Additional solicitor general Pinky Anand and advocate Rajesh Ranjan, however, informed the court that 480 more disposal sites have been created and waste materials are dumped only at the designated places. “All the executing agencies have been instructed to dump the muck only at permitted sites during the execution of the projects and it should not have any negative impact on the environment. The ministry has issued instructions that payments to the contractor will be made only after submitting photographs showing muck disposal at designated sites,” she contended.After hearing both sides, a bench of Justices RF Nariman and Vineet Saran passed the order saying work on ongoing projects must continue but stayed the tribunal’s order which held that EIA was not required. The court said new projects would have to pass the drill and get EIA clearance.