The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced on Wednesday that it is implementing stricter compliance measures regarding plantation for national highway projects. The agency will now link the provisional completion certification and maintenance payments to specific targets for plantation and the survival rates of saplings. This move aims to enhance environmental accountability in infrastructure development.
Plantation will be considered compliant for issuing the Provisional Certificate of Completion (PCC) or Provisional Commercial Operation Date (PCOD) only if these thresholds are met. NHAI will enforce financial withholdings provided for under the agreement until the remaining plantation is completed and the prescribed target achieved. NHAI also linked plantation maintenance to payments during the operations and maintenance (O&M) period. In Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Annuity projects, O&M or annuity payments will be subject to compliance with the survival norm. Similar compliance will be assessed for BOT-Toll projects. The guidelines require timely replacement of dead plants with saplings of similar age and growth to maintain plantation density and continuity along highway corridors. Before processing operation or annuity payments, or certifying maintenance compliance, NHAI will seek assistance from its environment and plantation expert to verify field-level compliance and survival rates.
Under revised guidelines, contractors will have to plant on at least 80% of the available right of way (ROW) earmarked for plantation and maintain a minimum 90% survival rate at the time of inspection. The guidelines require median and avenue plantation to be carried out in accordance with the relevant contract or concession agreement, the Green Highways Policy of 2015, corresponding Indian Road Congress specifications, and other guidelines issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and NHAI. Any shortfall beyond the prescribed 80% plantation target will have to be specifically recorded, along with a timeline for completing the work.
