New Delhi. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari launched the nationwide tree plantation drive in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. Under the aegis of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, NHAI has planted 2.75 lakh saplings in one day through simultaneous plantation at more than 300 identified locations along the National Highways including NHAI land parcels i.e. ground floors, toll plazas and Amrit Sarovars. Started this campaign to plant more than 100 trees. Public representatives, civil society, NGOs and students participated in this campaign to spread the message of environmental sustainability.
Nitin Gadkari in his address said that this initiative is in line with the Green India Mission (GIM) launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which aims to transform our National Highways into eco-friendly sustainable Green Highways. He said that our commitment towards this cause is unwavering as we try to compensate for every tree cut during road projects by planting double the number of trees. Additionally, we have had success in relocating fully grown and large trees, he added.
Nitin Gadkari said that this initiative is a concrete solution to the challenges posed by climate change, as it simultaneously reduces carbon emissions and at the same time promotes environment-friendly infrastructure. He said that plantation and transplantation of trees has become an integral part of National Highway development. He said that utmost importance is also being given to geotagging of trees so that the progress and growth of these trees can be tracked. He also appealed to the people to come forward and participate in the program for sustainable and long-lasting effect of the plantation drive.
Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation General (Retd) Dr. V.K. Singh and NHAI President Santosh Kumar Yadav also planted saplings near the Eastern Peripheral Expressway interchange at Dasna in Ghaziabad.
Afforestation Action Plan is the focus area of the Highway Development Program under which local indigenous shrubs and trees are planted along the road sides and surplus land of middle ground or ROW. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways promulgated the Green Highways 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 the current year, it is proposed to plant more than 56 lakh saplings, which has already started from this monsoon season.
Plantation of trees and other related activities that NHAI has taken up are in line with the vision of the Prime Minister i.e. Mission Life, Lifestyle for Environment, which is concerned with bringing individual human behavior to the forefront of the global climate action plan. Through its continuous endeavour, NHAI plans to contribute towards building an ecosystem that reinforces eco-friendly behavior and enables it to be self-sustaining.
NHAI has been organizing tree plantation drives from time to time to develop environment friendly National Highways. The objective is to collectively cover the National Highways with tree plantation by involving concessionaires, state government agencies, private plantation agencies through State Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) and forest and horticulture experts.
