Green Highway project

Why in news?

• The Government of India and the World Bank today signed a $500 million project to build safe and green national highway corridors in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

About the project:

• Under the Green Highway project, two-Lane or two-Lane with paved shoulders or four-lane configuration (Two-lane/single/Intermediate lane) of national highways will undergo major upgradation or rehabilitation.
• The essential components of the Green Highway Project are sustainable development and maintenance of National Highways, Institutional Capacity Enhancement, road safety, and research and development.
• The project will
  • Strengthen and widen existing structures
  • Construct new pavements, drainage facilities and bypasses
  • Improve junctions; and introduce road safety features.
  • Conduct disaster risk assessment of about 5,000 km of the National Highway network
  • Will mainstream climate resilience aspects in project design and implementation
• The total cost of the mega Green Highway project is Rs 7662.47 crore which also involves a loan component of Rs 3500 crore or $500 million.
• Under the project, research and development studies will be done topics like the use of fly ash, demolition waste etc. in embankments, use of waste plastic, modifiers etc. in bituminous works, stabilization of soils and pavement layers, tree plantation and slope protection using bio-engineering solutions.

Prelims Question

Consider the following statements 
1.The National Highways of India carry close to 40 percent of road traffic.
2.India’s national highway network is more than three times the length of India’s rail route length.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question