The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has made compliance through plantation stricter conditions while working on national highway projects so that the targets of plantation and survival of plantation saplings laid down as conditions of completion certification and maintenance are taken care of.
If approved, under the newly revised guidelines, contractors will have to do plantation over at least 80% of the Right of Way (ROW) identified in plantation. They also have to guarantee that sapling survival will be at least 90% at inspection.
The guidelines include the requirement for medium/avenue plantation and relevant terms of contract / concession agreement of the Indian Road Congress specifications applicable directions to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), NHAI.
Only when the prescribed thresholds are met, plantation will be deemed to be done in compliance and Provisional Certificate of Completion (PCC) / Provisional Commercial Operation Date (PCOD) will be issued. A gap from the 80% aim at the plantation has to be documented formally and a schedule set for the work to be done until this target is reached.
NHAI will also implement financial withholdings as per the agreement till the pending plantation work is completed and the target is reached.
The new norms additionally consider the maintenance of plantations as eligibility criteria and payments are made only during the operations and maintenance period. O&M payments and annuity payments will be a key component of EPC, HAM, or BOT Annuity projects and will be linked to compliance of the survival rate, as outlined. The same friendly sensors will be used for BOT-Toll projects.
This is to be done quickly by contractors when trees on their installation are cut down so that plantation density and continuity is maintained along highways.