Ministry for blanket green policy on border roads

NEW DELHI: The road transport and highways ministry is likely to seek a blanket policy for environment and forest clearances for all highways project in the bordering states including the ones in the North-East, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. The move will speed up the crucial road links in the security sensitive states.

Sources said the proposal is being mooted after environment and forest minister Prakash Javadekar, on Thursday, announced that a policy framework was being prepared by his ministry through which approval would be given for the border roads and defence projects in the areas up to 100 kms from Line of Actual Control (LAC) without hampering the environmental conservation in a fast track mode.

Besides delay in land acquisition and availability, green clearance is one of the major reasons behind time and cost overruns of road projects, particularly in these states.

Sources has learnt that the road transport minister Nitin Gadkari would soon write to Javedekar on this issue. Sources also said that the minister would write letters to all the chief ministers of North-Eastern states to expedite the land acquisition process so that projects can take off quickly.

Despite North-East has been the priority area in the last one decade, the infrastructure development has been moving at a snail's pace.

UPA-II had cleared setting up of the corporate entity - National Highways Connectivity Company Limited - to speed up work in the bordering states. The government had identified 10,000 km of roads that the new agency can take up and of which the North-East accounts for nearly 7,000 km.

The approval for setting up the company was taken after concerns were raised over slow progress of road construction in border areas in the national security council.