Green National Highways Corridor Project
The Government of India recently inked 500 million USD loan pact with World Bank to develop Green National Highway Corridors in the country. These corridors are to be developed in Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The project will support the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to construct 783 kilo metres of highways. The roads built under the project will combine safe and green technology designs. It will use industrial by products, marginal and local materials and other bioengineering solutions.
Green National Highway Corridor Project
- The project will provide efficient transportation for road users.
- It will connect people with markets and services.
- The project will promote efficient use of water and construction materials to reduce depletion of natural resources. This will help in reducing Green House Gases.
- It will strengthen and widen structures by constructing new pavements, bypasses, drainage facilities and improved junctions.
- The project will introduce road safety measures.
- The project will undertake construction of 5,000 kilo metre national highway network to make sure the infrastructure investments are climate resilient.
- The project will also support analytics to map freight volume and movement pattern on the highway network. This will help to identify constraints and provide innovative logistics solutions.
About the loan
The tenure period of the loan is 18.5 years.
Background
The Union Cabinet approved the project of building 780 kilo metres of Green National Highway at a cost of Rs 7,660 crores in March 2020.The main objective of Green Highways is to promote greening of highway corridors. It includes plantation, transplantation, Beautification and Maintenance. 1% of the total project cost is to be allocated for highway plantation and its maintenance.
These measures are being done under the Green Highway Policy. According to the policy, Rs 1,000 crores per year will be available for plantation purpose. The plantations will be monitored by BHUVAN and GAGAN satellite systems of ISRO.
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Month: Current Affairs - December, 2020