National Convention on Innovations in Green Highways underway in New Delhi
Nov 08, 2016: The three day National Convention on Innovations in Green Highways is underway in the national capital.
During the inaugural ceremony, Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Mansukh Lal Mandavia said there would be a greater success in greening highways if the local farmers are also involved. The Minister also expressed hope that the convention will come up with actionable ideas that would be useful for the country.
Raghav Chandra, Chairman, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) who also spoke at the inauguration said that he was happy that his organization while constructing the National highways would also be associated with restoring the environment through aesthetic greening. He was confident of awarding 6000 kilometre of National highways for greening by end of the year. He stressed that greening of National highways would improve the scope for rural employment and create jobs for lakhs of people associated with it.
The National Green Highways Mission signed MoUs with ITC for undertaking plantation, management and sustainable harvesting activities along NHs; Yes Bank for funding roadside plantations under CSR program; TERI technical collaboration for fostering research and innovation in Green Highways. NGHM will also sign MoUs with JK Papers for undertaking plantation, management and sustainable harvesting activities along NHs; INBAR for promoting bamboo based applications in Green Highways; World Bank for strengthening Green Highways Programme.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has promulgated Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy – 2015 to undertake highways plantations along National Highways. For the quick roll out of the scheme, National Green Highways Mission (NGHM) under NHAI has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing entire green highways programme for the Ministry, NHIDCL & NHAI.
Under the aegis of Green Highways Policy, NGHM is mandated to plan, implement and monitor green corridors development along upcoming and existing National Highways.
