NHAI makes 80% plantation key to highway completion certificate

New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has tightened compliance requirements for plantation and landscaping along national highway projects, making adequate plantation a key condition for the issuance of the completion certificate.

Under the revised guidelines, plantation must cover at least 80% of the available Right of Way (ROW) earmarked for plantation while the saplings planted must have a minimum 90% survival rate at the time of inspection for a project to meet the plantation-related requirements for provisional completion certification.

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NHAI said the guidelines have been issued to ensure strict compliance with contractual obligations relating to plantation along highway medians and avenues. The revised guidelines are aimed at addressing this gap and ensuring that plantation and environmental sustainability become an integral part of both the implementation and long-term maintenance of national highway projects. The revised norms also provide for accountability in cases where plantation targets are not fully achieved.

"Any shortfall beyond the prescribed 80% coverage will have to be clearly highlighted along with a specific timeline for completing the remaining plantation," it said.

NHAI said it will also enforce appropriate financial withholdings, wherever provided for under the relevant contract or concession agreement, until the outstanding plantation work is completed and the prescribed target is achieved. The authority has also strengthened requirements for plantation maintenance during the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) period of National Highway projects.

For projects being implemented under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), hybrid annuity mode (HAM) and build-operate-transfer (BOT) annuity models, the release of payments will be linked to maintaining a minimum 90% survival rate throughout the O&M period.

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In BOT-Toll projects, compliance with the same survival requirement will be considered while assessing maintenance performance. The guidelines make timely replacement of dead or damaged plants mandatory. In the event of plant mortality, replacements will have to be of similar age and growth to maintain uniformity along the highway corridor.