NEW DELHI: In a bid to secure speedy green clearances for highways, the government plans to introduce a ‘tree transplantation’ clause in highway contracts that will require project developers to salvage as many trees as possible. The move comes at a time when road projects worth over Rs 30,000 crore are stuck due to environment issues . “The move will ensure faster environmental clearances and will speed up construction of roads,” Union minister for roads, transport and highways Nitin Gadkari told ET.For transplanting and monitoring of the green corridor project, the government will set up a dedicated green agency with its headquarters at the Transport Bhawan in Delhi. The technology will be imported from Canada.A separate budget will also be earmarked for transplanting. “The estimates of any widening scheme on national highways will include the provision for transplantation of trees,” Gadkari said. “The maintenance of such transplanted trees will also be included in the contract documents of all BOT (buildoperate-transfer) and EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) projects. A total of 1% of the cost of construction would be kept aside only for the green initiatives.” he added.The cost of plantation and maintenance will be borne by the concessionaire in case of BOT projects and by the NHAI or the ministry for public-funded projects. As per the policy, the location for transplantation will have to be identified and preliminary treatment done at least three months before the area is ready for transplantation.“A beautiful tree in the wrong place on roads need to be salvaged rather than destroyed. Therefore, transplanting trees during the construction of road projects should be preferred,” Gadkari said.The policy, which also aims to provide employment to the local people, will be implemented in participation with the local community, NGOs, private sector and the forest department. Under the policy, the road ministry will ‘tree-line’ 140,000 km of national highways.The proposal to plant trees to create a green corridor along highways will improve their green quotient . The replanting needs to be undertaken in a planned manner, with due consideration to road safety, and the species of trees best suited to the area. However, to reduce prerequisites for green clearance to this one issue is a mistake. The environment ministry has prepared a list of 52 items on which the building agency or company must provide information to ensure proper assessment of a project. To speed up clearances, the developer must provide required information on time.