Centre may spend Rs 5,000 cr in next five years for greener highways

The Road Minister said govt aims to awards road projects worth Rs 5 lakh cr in next five years

The roads ministry would spent Rs 5,000 crore over the next five years to develop green cover along national highways.  Launching the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy, 2015 here on Tuesday, roads minister Nitin Gadkari said: “On an average, we award highway projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore every year. In the next five years, we target to award road projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore and one per cent of it is Rs 5,000 crore, which will be available for plantation purpose or greening the highway in the next five years.” The policy aims to promote greening of highway corridors with participation of the community, farmers, private sector, NGOs, and government institutions.

The ministry has identified around 12,000 hectares of land for plantation. The government plans to ‘green’ about 6,000 km of roads in the first year of the policy. The total length of highways in India is about 96,000 km, and it constitutes only two per cent of the road network. but carry 40 per cent of the total road traffic.

Gadkari said there will be strong monitoring of the initiative by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Airports Authority of India. Isro’s Bhuvan and Gagan satellite systems would be deployed to map the green cover.

He noted this policy would generate employment opportunities for about 500,000 people from rural areas. He also asked the state governments to start programmes on similar lines.

The policy would help make India pollution-free, the minister added. It would also help in curtailing the number of road accidents in India.

Gadkari added the ministry would felicitate three agencies doing outstanding plantation work every year on June 5 - the World Environment Day. He added that there will be strong monitoring mechanism by The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India.

He said ISRO's BHUVAN and GAGAN satellite systems would be deployed to map the plants and for auditing purpose. He alsosaid that this policy will generate employment opportunities for about five lakh people from rural areas. He also asked the state governments to start a programme on similar lines.

The Green Highway Policy will help in making India pollution free, the minister added. It will also help in curtailing the number of road accidents in India. The ministry has identified around 12,000 hectares of land for plantation and the government plans greening of about 6,000 km of roads in the first year of the policy. The total length of highway in India is about 96,000 km, and it constitutes only 2% of the road network but carries about 40% of the total road traffic.