The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has partnered with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to develop and report a “Green Cover Index” for the extensive network of National Highways in India. This partnership will span over the course of three years.
Since 2015, the Green Highways Policy has placed a significant emphasis on the greening of Highway Corridors, with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and NHAI making it a top priority. However, the monitoring of plantations has traditionally relied on on-site visits by field personnel.
To address this issue, the NRSC will utilize advanced technologies to enhance data collection and supplement plantation management. By utilizing high-resolution satellite imagery, the NRSC will conduct a comprehensive pan-India estimation of green cover, referred to as the “Green Cover Index”, for National Highways.
This innovative approach promises to provide a robust and reliable mechanism, offering a time-saving and cost-effective solution to generate an estimate of the green cover along National Highways. Additionally, it will facilitate targeted interventions in regions that lack adequate green cover.
Headquartered in Hyderabad, the NRSC is mandated with the establishment of ground stations for receiving satellite data and the development of techniques for remote sensing applications, among other things. As a proof of concept, NRSC has already successfully conducted pilot projects for the estimation of green cover along National Highways.
The project aims to capture the Green Cover Index region-wise for National Highways in the first assessment cycle. Subsequent cycles will focus on estimating the growth patterns of green cover using scientific techniques. The findings of the index will facilitate comparison and ranking of various National Highways for timely and periodic intervention.
By estimating green cover for every 1 km length of the National Highways, it will be possible to generate granular metrics for individual projects/packages. This initiative underscores a sincere commitment to evaluate NHAI’s pivotal role in fostering the green transformation of highways, thereby contributing to the nation’s overall environmental well-being.