CHENNAI: The NHAI’s initiative of laying roads with municipal solid waste would ensure economic progress and also protect the environment, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Monday.
This new plan envisaged the use of all municipal solid waste in the country before 2027 in laying roads, he said.
“We need economic progress, and at the same time, our ethics are very important. With education and research, we can maintain the standards of ethics,” he said while speaking at the 21st convocation of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, here.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has already used 80 lakh tonne of municipal waste in laying roads.
In Ahmedabad, for instance, 25 lakh tonnes of municipal waste were used, and on Mumbai-Delhi Highway, 40 lakh tonnes of municipal waste were used, Gadkari said.
Also, he was working on a mission to diversify agriculture towards the energy sector.
“Our farmers are not only Annadata (provider of food) but also are Urjadata (provider of energy). Even in NHAI, we have laid a road using bio bitumen that has been proved to be better than petroleum bitumen,” the Minister said.
Founder-chancellor of SRMIST, T R Paarivendhar, spoke. (PTI)