Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday gave a clarion call to the public to join the revolution to become part of ‘Green India’. He hailed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for seamlessly taking steps towards fuel conservation and pollution control to make highway travel comfortable.
Mr. Gadkari planted a sapling at Kothapalem in Renigunta mandal, thus kickstarting the nationwide campaign to plant trees along the national highways. He envisaged a plantation of 1,000 trees on the Renigunta–Naidupeta stretch of NH-71 alone.
He said the length of highways across the country had doubled in the nine years during 2014-2023. To address the automobile pollution issue on a permanent footing, the ministry was keen on introducing bioethanol, which would also help reduce the prices of petroleum products.
Three lakh trees target
“The NHAI is running plantation drives in more than 300 projects across the country, with at least 1,000 plants in each project, taking the total number to three lakh trees”, he explained.
Member of Parliament (Tirupati) M. Gurumoorthy thanked the Ministry for sanctioning funds to the tune of ₹17,000 crore to Andhra Pradesh and appealed to Mr. Gadkari to consider sanctioning the multi-facility bus station for Tirupati. Srikalahasti MLA B. Madhusudhan Reddy appealed to the Minister to consider planting trees with medicinal value so as to benefit future generations.
Launch of Fresh Bus
Later, Mr. Gadkari launched an EV service by ‘Fresh Bus’ on the Tirupati–Bengaluru route that claimed to offer an eco-friendly travel experience at a nominal price of Rs.399 per seat. Founder Sudhakar Reddy Chirra announced to commence services on the Hyderabad – Vijayawada route soon.
State Minister Dadisetty Raja, Zilla Parishad Chairman Govindappa Srinivasulu, and R&B Secretary P.S. Pradyumna were present.
