Recently , government and the World Bank has signed a $500 million project for implementation of the Green National Highways Corridor Project.
Q. What is Green National Highways Corridor Project?
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had launched a National Green Highways Mission (NGHM) following the promulgation of ‘Green Highways Policy’ in September 2015.
The GreenNational Highways Corridor Projects (GNHCP) supports the implementation of the National Green Highways Mission and the provision of green and safe transport.
The objective of the Project is to demonstrate safe and green National Highway corridors in selected States and enhance the institutional capacity of the MoRTH in mainstreaming safety and green technologies.
Q. What are the components of the Project?
The project have three basic components :
1. Green Highway Corridor Improvement and Maintenance:
This includes upgradation and maintenance for five years of about 783 km of selected existing National Highways in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
2. Institutional Capacity Enhancement:
It will support the capacity enhancement of MoRTH in its pursuit to conserve natural resources and improve climate vulnerability of the National Highways network and reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
3. Road Safety:
It will provide support to improve road safety data analytics and highway safety monitoring and implementation.
Q. What is the pact between the Government and the World Bank?
The USD 500 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), an arm of the World Bank, has a maturity of 18.5 years including a five-year grace period.
Q. What are some of significance of this Project?
The National Highways of India carry about 40% of road traffic. However, several sections of these highways have inadequate capacity, weak drainage structures and black spots prone to accidents.
The ultimate objective of transport infrastructure is to provide seamless connectivity and reduce logistics costs.
Historically, the transport sector in India has offered limited employment opportunities for women. The project will support the ministry with an in-depth analysis of gender-related issues in the transport sector along with help in creating jobs for women by training women-led micro enterprises and women collectives to implement green technologies in the highway corridors.
