Over 90,000-kilometre stretch of national highways will be transformed into green corridors soon as the Union Government has decided to implement an ambitious policy under which one per cent of the road construction cost will go towards planting trees.
The Government is planning on creating a brigade of 1,000 contractors for this ambitious project, said an official from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
“The Government has taken a decision that one per cent of cost in road construction will spent on tree plantation along the national highways,” said the official.
He said if the cost of road construction comes to around Rs 1 lakh crore, Rs 1,000 crore will go for tree plantation.
“The Government will hire 1,000 contractors, which will have their own nurseries. They will plant new trees and create a green area on national highways,” the official said.
The decision on tree variety that will be planted in any particular area will be left on the contractors. They will decide on the tree variety depending on the soil suitability.
“The Ministry will not decide on variety of trees to be planted.
Planting trees in any particular area will depend on the soil suitability, besides climate and success stories. The Ministry has suggested that Alphanso can be planted in areas like Konkan in Maharashtra, which are famous for it. Similarly, Chhattisgarh is more suited for tamarind,” he said.
As part of the new green policy, the Government is also working on importing a technology from Canada for tree transplantation to avoid felling of trees while widening roads, which is a common practice in some countries.
The new green policy, he said, will pave for creation of employment as well as contribute towards the economic growth of the country.
The Centre is hoping to create employment opportunities through this new green policy. “This decision
will not just pave way for creation of employment but also contribute towards the economic growth of the country,” said the official.
India’s road network of 33-lakh kilometres is the second largest in the world and consists of 92,851 kilometres of National Highways, which constitute only 1.7 per cent of the road network but carry about 40 per cent of the total road traffic.