On 29th September 2015, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) announced the Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantations, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy – 2015. The idea behind initiating the policy was to develop green corridors along the entire National Highways network of India for a sustainable environmental growth. The vision behind the policy was to develop an eco-friendly atmosphere around the highways, and in order to achieve this vision the participation of the local communities, farmers, NGOs, institutions, government agencies and the Forest Department is necessary. Only the overall involvement and participation can help in achieving the set target in a sustainable manner.
The government has established a special division, called the Green Highways Division, under the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The Division looks into the implementation and sustenance of the policy. Under the supervision of NHAI Chairman Shri Deepak Kumar, the Green Highways Division is executing the roadside plantations to enhance the green cover of India. This step is also helping in generating the employment opportunities for local/rural citizens.
Shri Akhilesh Srivastava, CGM (IT & Highway Operations), has also been an integral part of this initiative, since its commission. He is also participating in the tasks of planning, implementation and monitoring of the roadside plantations in the one lakh km long National Highway network of India.
The benefit of this initiative is not just limited to the environment, but it is also helping to generate the employment opportunities in the plantations sector for the coming decade. Under this policy, the development of the green corridors has also been proposed, which will be developed along the existing as well as the upcoming National Highways. These green corridors are being developed on the existing Right of Way (RoW) width along the highways.
The Green Highways Division has proposed the following Green Highway Projects for the next ten years:
• 10 crore tree plantation along the National Highways
• One lakh direct employment generation
• Green Corridor development along the existing and upcoming National Highways
• Sequestering approximately 12 lakh MT of carbon
• Starting centres for innovation in Green Pathways
The following are the prime objectives behind the effective planning, implementation and monitoring of these Green Highway Projects.
• To develop a systematic framework and integrate the Green Corridor Development in the various other infrastructural development schemes
• To build a resilient ecosystem in the form of Green Corridors that will help in combating the global warming and climate change issues
• To make Green Highways Mission self-sustainable
• To develop corridors with an aesthetic appeal
• To reduce the impacts pollution
• To provide shade during scorching summers
• To reduce soil erosion during rains
• To reduce the effects of harmful UV radiation
The highways are often acknowledged as the growth engine of development, and India is considered to have the second largest roads network in the world, out of which over one lakh km is regarded as the national highway. It is fascinating that this enormous National Highway network accounts only the 2% of the Indian road network but carries more than 40% of the country's traffic, which also shows the importance of NHs in the Indian economy. Being a developing country, the problems like the clearance of forest areas and tree felling are nearly inevitable in India, and as the world is advancing towards the various high-end technologies, these things add in large-scale degradation of the environment. Due to this degradation, the biodiversity is continuously being lost and the carbon balance is increasing in the atmosphere, the relentless vehicular movement further contributes to the heavy release of the greenhouse gases. In order to control the situation before it gets out of hands, the GoI along the NHAI, under the expert supervision of NHAI Chairman Shri Deepak Kumar and CGM (IT & Highway Operations) Shri Akhilesh Srivastava, has developed the Green Highway Projects.
In order to fasten the process of developing the Green Highway Projects, the NHAI has come up with an innovative “Adopt a Green Highway Program”. Under which, an individual/organization/agency can adopt a segment along the highway and develop it into a green corridor. The adopters can also provide the funds to NGHM to implement the project on their behalf. They can adopt a section of the national highway’s RoW area and the adoption site can include one or both the sides of the highway. The adoption task should include the plantation, maintenance, landscaping or any other allied activity authorized under the MoU signed with the authorities. For further details or the interested individuals can check the http://nationalgreenhighways.org website.