Santosh Kumar Yadav, Chairman, National Highway Authority of India, said, “We are committed to develop sustainable and environmentally friendly national highway network. Today, there is a greater need to collaborate and include sustainable practices from the conceptualization of the project at the DPR stage. Participation from various stakeholders in this workshop, will enrich the quality of discussion and define the way forward towards a greener and more sustainable national highway infrastructure development.”
With a focus on building a robust and sustainable national highway network, NHAI organized a day long national workshop to discuss different aspects of environmental impact assessment, planning and mitigation for holistic National Highway development in New Delhi on Monday.
Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Anurag Jain and Chairman NHAI Santosh Kumar Yadav along with IFoS officer DGF&SS, MoEF&CC Jitendra Kumar and other officials from MoRTH, NHAI, NHIDCL, MoEF&CC, QQI-NABET, DPR consultants, concessionaires, authority engineers and independent engineers participated.
Various panel discussions with senior officials and industry experts were held during the workshop which provided key insights into different aspects of development of environmentally sustainable road infrastructure. The sessions included discussion on issues related to wildlife clearances; insights on eco-friendly measures to mitigate impacts of linear infrastructure on wildlife; issues related to forest & environment clearances; environmental impact assessment (EIA), environmental management plan (EMP); coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearances, regulations and its applicability to road infrastructure projects.
In his inaugural address, Anurag Jain said, “Through these knowledge sessions, we will have deeper understanding of the forest and environment clearances and systems. It is also important for different departments to have a collaborative approach using PM Gati Shakti framework to efficiently develop sustainable national highway infrastructure across the country.”
Jitendra Kumar said, “We have to take steps towards expediting planning and proposal process by improving inter-departmental collaboration and building a concrete roadmap for inclusion of sustainable practices in the development of infrastructure projects.”
Vishal Chauhan, Member (Administration), NHAI, emphasized that ensuring environment sustainability is a collective responsibility of all the stakeholders and forward-looking discussions in today’s workshop has helped to push forward the agenda of environment sustainably.
With a strong focus on environment sustainability, promoting economic growth, and expanding the national highway network, NHAI is paving way for a greener, more resilient, and inclusive future, the speakers observed. The national workshop strengthened this vison by providing key insights and identifying areas for holistic development. The deliberations held at the day long workshop will go a long way in adopting various sustainable practices for the construction of national highways and drive inclusive growth by enhancing the ecological footprint across the country, the ministry said in a statement.
