Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Geotextiles)

Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Topic: Geotextiles

Geotextiles

The central government has decided to construct roads in rural areas across the country under Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana(PMGSY-III) by using ‘Coir Geotextiles’ as the basic ingredients.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Micro and Small Industries, the roads comprising 164 km in Andhra Pradesh and 121 km in Telangana are said to be taken up with this new technology.

Geotextiles are permeable fabrics which, when used in association with soil, have the ability to separate, filter, reinforce, protect, or drain.
Typically made from polypropylene or polyester, geotextile fabrics come in three basic forms: woven (resembling mail bag sacking), needle punched (resembling felt), or heat bonded (resembling ironed felt).
Geotextile composites have been introduced and products such as geogrids and meshes have been developed. Geotextiles are able to withstand many things, are durable, and are able to soften a fall if someone falls down. Overall, these materials are referred to as geosynthetics and each configuration—geonets, geosynthetic clay liners, geogrids, geotextile tubes, and others—can yield benefits in geotechnical and environmental engineering design.
It can be used in road work, railway works, agriculture, drainage, river, canals, and coastal works.
Geotextiles are a wonderful treasure of natural echo-friendly, erosion control blankets.
Totally biodegradable, geotextiles help soil stabilization and renew vegetation in varying slopes.

Coir geotextiles are permeable fabric, which are natural, strong, highly durable, resistant to rots, moulds and moisture.
It is free from any microbial attack.
Coir geotextiles protect land surface and promote quick vegetation.
It will give a big boost to the coir industry.
The decision also opens up a huge market potential for coir geotextiles in the country.
The new policy of using this technology is bound to be eco-friendly, low-cost and durable roads.

The agriculture ministry in May 2020, released the Model Contract Farming Act, 2018, which lays emphasis on protecting the interests of farmers, considering them as weaker of the two parties entering into a contract.
In addition to contract farming, services contracts all along the value chain, including pre-production, production and post-production, have been included in the Act.
The Act says that the contracted produce will be covered under crop/ livestock insurance in operation. Also, contract framing will be outside the ambit of Agricultural Produce Market Committee(APMC) Act.
A Contract Farming Facilitation Group (CFFG) for promoting contract farming and services at village and panchayat level will be provided.
Protecting farmers, the Act says that no permanent structure can be developed on farmers’ land or premises.
No right, title of interest of the land shall vest in the sponsor. Promotion of Farmer Producer Organization (FPOs) /Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) to mobilise small and marginal farmers has been provided.

The central government has permitted for the use of coconut fibres in the construction of 1,674 km of rural roads in seven states of the country.
In the past, roads in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were effectively made using coconut fibre.
As per the PMGSY new technology guidelines for road construction, 15 per cent length of roads in each batch of proposals is to be constructed using new technologies. Out of this 5 per cent roads are to be constructed using Indian Roads Congress (IRC) accredited technology.
The IRC has now accredited coir geotextiles for construction of rural roads.
As per these instructions, 5 per cent length of the rural roads under PMGSY-III will be constructed using coir geotextiles.
Accordingly, 164 km of road will be constructed using coir geotextiles in Andhra Pradesh, 151 km in Gujarat, 71 km in Kerala, 328 km in Maharashtra, 470 km in Odisha, 369 km in Tamil Nadu and 121 km in Telengana.