Global road safety body International Road Federation (IRF) has written to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat requesting action for development of greener roads and highways to reduce carbon emissions in the State.
The federation has also exhorted the construction industry to use eco-friendly and recycled materials to develop a more environment-friendly transport infrastructure while also reducing the per capita carbon footprints in the State. In the letter to the CM, the IRF chairman KK Kapila has also informed that the federation had developed a Greenhouse Gas Calculator called “Changer” which calculates the GHG emissions from road construction and maintenance activities.
“In order to mitigate global warming it has become imperative to control Green House Gas (GHG) emissions from the transport and the road construction and maintenance sector. During construction and maintenance of each mile of road thousands of tonnes of materials like aggregate stone, concrete, asphalt and steel are needed, let alone all of the diesel fuel required to power the construction equipment and to transport materials to and from the project site. This not only eats up precious natural resources but emit tonnes of pollution,” said Kapila.
He further stressed, “There is great need develop green highways and roads with less damaging way by recovering and recycling existing local available materials and utilising specially engineered binders to produce effective stabilised building materials that enable existing waste streams like fly ash in the road construction . Now is the time to embrace a new way to design, plan, build and maintain road infrastructure, consistent with green road building practices. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in it’s various circulars has already advised to evaluate the design, construction and maintenance activities for all road projects, with the aim of reducing GHG adverse effects on the climate change,” said the IRF chairman.
“The IRF is taking to meet the calls for a greener transport system through safe and sustainable road infrastructure. Taking an initiative IRF has developed a Greenhouse Gas Calculator called ‘Changer’ which calculates the GHG emissions from road construction and maintenance activities. The Changer besides giving data for the complete work as one unit, can also provide segemental information on different components of construction and maintenance activities. This enables re-design and re-structuring of various road building and maintenance activities, to reduce green house gas emissions. IRF has requested the Chief Minister to issue necessary directions to the Highway Department / PWD, to use the Changer in assessing the GHG emissions from road construction and maintenance activities and thereby take necessary corrective measures to minimise the GHG emissions and their adverse effect on the climate,” said Kapila
It is pertinent to mention here that Geneva based IRF was founded in 1948 and is the only world forum advocating better and safer roads through optimum road design and construction, according to Kapila.