NHAI’s The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) is set to estimate India’s green cover by using high-resolution satellite imagery, known as the Green Cover Index for national highways.

The council and ISRO have collaborated to establish the index, a strategy aimed at enhancing the sustainability of highways.

The project aims to measure the Green Cover Index at the regional level. Annual assessments will be conducted by using scientific methodologies in subsequent cycles, according to Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari.

The Green Cover Index:

The index will incorporate emerging technologies to enhance plantation management and monitoring, supplementing in-situ data collection through NHAI performance audits.

This will be a reliable and efficient method for quickly and cost-effectively estimating macro-level road conditions along national highways.
The index will facilitate timely and recurring interventions by comparing and ranking national highways, and provide granular metrics for specific projects or packages.

NHAI will map the entire highway network for three years to promote sustainable development and environmental awareness using data from ISRO’s satellite center.

Backdrop:

It must be noted that since 2015, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and NHAI have been prioritizing the greening of highway corridors, requiring field workers to monitor plantations.