Tirupati: Nitin Gadkari seeks people’s participation to protect environment

Tirupati: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that people nationwide should be involved in the Green India initiative to protect the environment.

The Union Minister who arrived here on Wednesday on a two-day official visit to Tirupati and Tirumala, was speaking after launching the nationwide plantation programme on NH 71 at Kothavalasa village in Renigunta.

He said that NHAI on its part with a commitment to protect environment and check growing pollution, directly and indirectly took up a slew of programmes across the country.

The massive tree plantation programme, this year aims to plant 56 lakh saplings all along the national highways while 3 lakh saplings on a single day on Wednesday, he explained.

Candidly saying that the transport department has a dubious distinction for causing 40 per cent of the pollution, Gadkari said the Central government was making all out efforts to explore all possible means to bring down the pollution levels mainly due to emissions from usage of petrol.

This includes, he said, promoting alternatives on fuel sources like ethanol and methanol on which specially the government was focusing and observed that the petrol price will come down drastically to even Rs 15 per litre, if these two fuel sources come into effective use.

As part of the efforts to reduce petrol consumption, the government is promoting Bio-ethanol which is a best alternative to petrol, he explained.

Already many private companies have engaged in introducing ethanol fueled two-wheelers, he pointed out adding that ethanol which costs Rs 60 against petrol which costs litre Rs 110, is going to play a key role in environmental protection and exuded confidence that utilisation of green-hydrogen which is the future and black-hydrogen will increase in the coming days.

He further said that research is going on carbon-less fuel sources and added that if all the efforts succeeded, India will reach the position of exporting energy sources.

The Minister said that in the last nine years i.e. between 2014 and 2023, the extent of national highway has doubled while 2.74 crore saplings were planted all along the highways from 2016 to 2022.

Tirupati MP Dr M Gurumurthy thanked Gadkari for sanctioning Rs 17,000 crore to Andhra Pradesh for development of national highways and requested the Union Minister to sanction multi-facility bus station to Tirupati pilgrim city. Kalahasthi MLA B Madhusudhan Reddy also spoke.

Later, the Union Minister flagged off Fresh Bus EV Bus Fleet in Tirupati, The Fresh Bus operates on the Bengaluru-Tirupati route, offering a premium and eco-friendly travel experience at Rs 399 per seat and the electric buses have a range of up to 400 km on a single charge.