96 Kms of roads constructed using coir geo-textiles

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti informed the house that as of July 2021, about 96.59 Kms of roads have been constructed using coir geo-textiles in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

In order to encourage locally available materials and use of green technologies, guidelines were issued by the Ministry in May 2013, wherein the State Governments are required to propose minimum 15% of total length of annual proposals under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana   (PMGSY) under new technologies such as cement stabilization, lime stabilization, cold mix, waste plastics, cell filled concrete, paneled cement concrete pavement, fly ash,coir geo-textiles, etc.

The details of roads constructed as on 28th July, 2021 using coir geo-textiles are:

Coir geo-textiles are used for improvement of sub-grade soil strength in road pavements and stabilization of side slopes. Coir geo-textiles have been used in various places for improving the properties and strength of sub-grade soil layer by providing a physical separation of sub-base and sub-grade layers. It is also used for side-slope protection, as it can retard soil erosion. The Indian Road Congress (IRC) has also accredited the use of coir geo-textiles in construction of roads. 

The State of Art Report published by the IRC HRB SR No. 21-2012 has reported that coir and jute technologies have proved to be effective in protection of slopes. In the preliminary observations by the National Quality Monitors (NQMs), these roads were found to be performing well. It has also been found that by improving the strength of the sub-grade soil the coir geo-textile results in marginal reduction in the thickness of the granular sub-base (GSB) layer, thus reducing costs.

Cost of a road depends on the Schedule of Rates (SoR) of the State and local conditions. For those areas where coir is locally available, use of coir geo-textiles in road pavements is economical compared to the traditional methods of soil stabilization, especially when traditional material may not be available locally.

The State of Kerala has been allocated target length of construction of 71 km road length using Coir geo-textile under PMGSY-III, for which the requirement of Coir Geo-textile is assessed to be around 2.80 Lakh Square metre approximately.