What is Chardham?

• Char Dham of Uttarakhand is one of the most important Hindu Pilgrimages in India.
• It comprises four most holy sites of Uttarakhand, namely – Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

About Chardham Project:

• The Chardham project involves developing and widening 900-km of national highways connecting the holy Hindu pilgrimage sites of the chardham sites at an estimated cost of Rs 12,000 crores.
• The highway will be called Chardham Mahamarg (Chardham Highway) and the highway construction project will be called as Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana (Chardham Highway Development Project).
• The roads will be widened and the project will involve construction of tunnels, bypasses, bridges, subways and viaducts.

Why in News?

• Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs inaugurated the event of Chamba Tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana through video conference mode.
• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was lauded for constructing a 440-metre long tunnel below the busy Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road and termed it as an ‘extraordinary feat’ in nation-building during the pandemic.

Significance:

• It will help in facilitating speedy movement of traffic, reducing congestion and distance to Chamba town and easing the movement of yatris on Chardham Yatra and bring economic prosperity.