More than 5,000 kilometres of avenue plantation works worth an amount of Rs 650 crore have been executed by the government so far under the National Green Highways Mission (NGHM).
According to a document issued by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, the stretches of national highways identified for plantations include NH-707 (103.55 kilometre long Poanta Sahib – Gumma Fediz stretch in the state of Himachal Pradesh), NH-158 (116.75 kilometre long Ras – Beawar – Mandal stretch in the state of Rajasthan) and NH-70 (109.41 kilometre long Hamirpur – Mandi section of Himachal Pradesh), among others, a PTI report said.
According to the ministry document, the government plans to carry out plantations along the National Highways with participation of the local communities, NGOs, farmers, private players, government agencies as well as Forest Departments (state level). Till now, more than 5,000 kilometres of avenue plantation works have been executed, which is worth Rs 650 crore, the document by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry stated. It further mentioned that green corridors, relevant from both climate mitigation as well as adaptation perspective, are being considered as a solution to fulfil the nation’s commitment for voluntary reduction of carbon emissions.
The National Green Highways Mission was launched by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways following the promulgation of a ‘Green Highways Policy’ in the month of September 2015. The eco-friendly step was taken considering the importance of road network in generation of employment, economic growth, and reduction of poverty on one hand and the need to minimize adverse effects of forest diversion, vehicular pollution, and felling of trees. On 21 August 2020, a mobile application ‘Harit Path’ was launched by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in order to monitor the plantation along the national highways, the report added.