Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh): Union minister for road transport & highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday launched a nationwide plantation drive along the national highways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) premises at a function held in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.
The drive is being carried out under the aegis of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ which aims to plant over 2.75 lakh saplings in one day through simultaneous plantations at more than 300 identified locations, along the NHs, NHAI land parcels, toll plazas and Amrit Sarovars.
A senior officer of the MoRTH said that the drive will also spread the message of environment sustainability among the people by ensuring involvement of public representatives, civil society, NGOs and students.
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Gadkari said this initiative aligns with the Green India Mission (GIM) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which aimed at converting the NHs into environmentally sustainable Green Highways. He said our commitment to this cause is unwavering as we diligently strive to compensate for every tree felled during road projects by planting twice the number of trees. Furthermore, we have achieved success in relocating fully grown and large trees, he added.
Minister of state for road transport & highways and civil aviation VK Singh and NHAI chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav also planted saplings near Eastern Peripheral Expressway Interchange at Dasna, Ghaziabad.
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The plantation action plan is the focus area of highway development program under which the local indigenous shrubs and trees are planted on surplus land of roadside avenue and median land or ROW. MoRTH promulgated Green Highway policy-2015, under this mandate, NHAI has planted 3.46 crore saplings from 2016-17 to 2022-23 as part of Annual Plantation Action Plan. In current year, over 56 lakh saplings are proposed to be planted which have started from monsoon season only.
NHAI has been organizing plantation drives from time to time to develop eco-friendly NHs. The vision is to saturate plantations along the NHs collectively by involving concessionaires, state government agencies, private plantation agencies, self-help group through state rural livelihood missions (SRLMs) and forest and horticulture experts.
