About National Highways Green Cover Index:
- It is an initiative of National Highways Authority of India.
- It has been prepared in coordination with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- The initiative aims to provide a scientific and quantitative assessment of green cover within the Right of Way (RoW) along the National Highways network by leveraging advanced space-based technologies.
- Methodology Used:
- The assessment is derived from chlorophyll content detected through high-resolution satellite sensors, enabling an objective, technology-driven measure of vegetation presence along the left and right sides of the highways.
- It measures the percentage of land covered with vegetation along highway corridors, including plantations on the left and right sides of the road, as well as in the median wherever feasible.
- The analysis is conducted for every one-kilometre highway segment using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from satellite imagery.
- Significance:
- It offers a robust, reliable, cost-effective, and time-efficient mechanism for macro-level estimation of the green cover along the National Highways.
- It will enable comparison, ranking, and targeted interventions for improved plantation management.
