Source: Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy 2015 was launched by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Aim of the Policy
To promote greening of Highway corridors with the participation of the community, farmers, private sector, NGOs, and government institutions.
Objective
To reduce the impact of air pollution and dust by planting trees and shrubs along the National Highways. They will act as a natural sink for air pollutants and arrest soil erosion at the embankment slopes.
Key features
- Under the policy, the entire Highways network is to be divided into two categories based on the legal status of the existing road-side plantations.
- Promote greening and development eco-friendly National Highway corridors across the country with participation of farmers, private sector and government institutions including Forest Department.
- It will address the issues that lie in the road of development and pave the way towards sustainable development.
- Stakeholders: Contracts for greening highways will be given to NGOs, agencies, private companies and government organisations. These stakeholders will be responsible for the survival and health of trees.
- The plantation scheme has been broadly classified into two categories which are as follows:
- Tree planting along the Highways Turfing with grasses and shrub/ herb.
- Planting on medians/special landscapes/embankment slopes.
- Planting of trees in any particular area will depend on the soil suitability and climatic conditions.
- Monitoring Agency: It will be responsible for monitoring the plantation status on a continuous basis by carrying out the site visit for field verification to check survival, growth and size of plantation and maintenance of the same.
- A performance audit of executing agencies will be regularly conducted by the agency on an annual basis. New contracts will be awarded to the agencies based on their past performance audit.
Implications
The policy will strike a balance between highways development and environmental protection. It will also help in providing employment to 5 lakh people of the rural areas.
