Lok Sabha Question No. 2396 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-03
Subject: Use of Coir Geo Textiles in Construction of Roads under PMGSY
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Adoor Prakash, Kumbakudi Sudhakaran

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2396

ANSWERED ON 03/08/2021

## USE OF COIR GEO TEXTILES IN CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS UNDER PMGSY

## 2396.   ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH:

SHRI KUMBAKUDI SUDHAKARAN:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has decided for using Coir Geo textiles in the construction of rural roads in the country, State-wise, particulary in Kerala;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the cost and benefits of using coir geo textiles for road construction along with the amount of coir that will be procured from coir companies in Kerala for construction of roads under PMGSY;
- (c) whether the same has been implemented in the construction of rural roads under PMGSY-III in various States and if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
- (d) the list of roads in Kerala where coir will be used as an ingredient for construction, district-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a)&(b) 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  PradhanMantri  Gram SadakYojana (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 as under.

| Name of State   |   Road length constructed (in km) |
|-----------------|-----------------------------------|
| Karnataka       |                             28.85 |
| Kerala          |                             14.29 |
| Madhya Pradesh  |                              9.05 |
| Tamil Nadu      |                             44.4  |
| Total           |                             96.59 |

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 geotextile 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.

(c) Coir geo textile is being used for construction in PMGSY-III roads. The state-wise details of roads sanctioned using coir geo textiles are as under:-

| Name of State   | Road length already sanctioned ( in km)   |
|-----------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh  | -                                         |
| Gujarat         | 3.65                                      |
| Kerala          | 0.80                                      |
| Maharashtra     | 96.45                                     |
| Odisha          | -                                         |
| Tamil Nadu      | -                                         |
| Telangana       | 127.88                                    |
| Karnataka       | 82.51                                     |
| Total           | 311.29                                    |

(d) The list of roads sanctioned/ proposed using Coir Geo-textile at present, in the State of Kerala, district-wise is given at Annexure.

*******

## Annexure

## Annexure referred to in part (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.2396 for 3 rd August, 2021 Roads sanctioned/ proposed using Coir Geo-Technology under PMGSY-III in Kerala State

| S.N.   | District           | Name of the Road                                                                   |   Road length sanctioned/ proposed to be sanctioned (Km) | Layer      |   Road Length sanctioned/ proposed using Coir Geo-Textile (Km) | Current Status                  |
|--------|--------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| 1      | Alappuzha          | MRL15-Palathikadu Kshethram to Jyothi jn Kavalakkal                                |                                                     4.11 | Sub- grade |                                                          0.8   | In Progress                     |
| 2      | Ernakulam          | MRL11-Kummanode Jayabharath Ottathani Perumani Road                                |                                                     5.18 | Sub- grade |                                                          1.015 | Proposal submitted by the State |
| 3      | Kannur             | T02-Vazhakkal oorpalli thekkumpoyil road                                           |                                                     3.48 | Sub- grade |                                                          0.83  | Proposal submitted by the State |
| 4      | Kozhikode          | MRL12-Anjampeedika Kayaladu Nedumpoyil Arikulam                                    |                                                     8.83 | Sub- grade |                                                          1.83  | Proposal submitted by the State |
| 5      | Kozhikode          | MRL05- Thaivvachaparambu Valathukaracanal                                          |                                                     5.44 | Sub- grade |                                                          1     | Proposal submitted by the State |
| 6      | Malappuram         | T10-Mele Kozhiparamb- Poolakkal-Palakode- Karayil                                  |                                                     6.53 | Sub- grade |                                                          1.007 | Proposal submitted by the State |
| 7      | Thiruvananthapuram | MRL17-Suvarna jubilee-Kuttiplavila- Kattachal kuzhi- Peringammala- Mangalathu nada |                                                     3.9  | Sub- grade |                                                          0.625 | Proposal submitted by the State |
|        |                    |                                                                                    |                                                    37.47 |            |                                                          7.107 |                                 |