Dehradun: Beyond Haridwar, the work to take the 900-km charcoal road deep into the Himalayas till the four holiest shrines is going on at a hysterical pace. Amid a cloud of dust, hundreds of diesel fumes emitting JCB machines and thousands of labourers are working day and night to complete the Rs 12,000 crore Char Dham project before 2020. However, ironically, the government has no idea about the “air and noise pollution” at the construction sites along the proposed all-weather stretch criss-crossing the “fragile” but lush mountains of Uttarakhand. Responding to an RTI query seeking details of the pollution on the Char Dham road, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) replied that it has no details of any such monitoring. The central agency then asked the RTI applicant to approach the state pollution control board in Uttarakhand. The state agency, too, denied it is undertaking any such monitoring. The project will involve felling of thousands of trees and intensive blasting of the Garhwal Himalayas. The environmental impact of the project is currently being deliberated in the National Green Tribunal. Dehradun-based RTI activist, Rakesh Bharthwal, had sought specific information about the machines and gadgets installed to measure air and noise pollution at places where the construction work is on full swing. In response, CPCB said on April 10 that it has no such information and asked the applicant to approach the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB). Speaking with TOI, UEPPCB member secretary SP Subudhi said: “We are not doing any such study to measure air or noise pollution aspect at the road construction sites of Char Dham project." Later, activist Bharthwal told TOI: “It is very disturbing that organisation like the CPCB --the apex body-- has made no effort to find out the noise and air pollution level at the construction sites. The government must ensure to measure the carbon emission aspect till the completion of such big project.” Noted academician Shekher Pathak said: “Already over 43,000 trees have been felled. The assessment of carbon emission must be made mandatory for all big road projects in Uttarakhand to minimize the environmental impact.” He also added that massive widening of road in hilly areas should be “avoided”. “In Uttarakhand, mountains are fragile. Such huge construction should be avoided,” said Pathak.