Golden Fibre Making Inroads into Road Construction
The first thing when we
hear about coir comes to our mind is traditional items like mats, baskets and
ropes, but it is not the case anymore.
With the changing times
and growing charm for eco-friendly products, the golden fibre is finding
new applications and is also being preferred in road construction.
With increasing
deforestation affecting the environment, the biodegradable geotextiles is
being used in the construction of roads.
The major reasons for increased
use of the natural fibre are sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
Coir (coconut
fiber) geotextiles are a popular solution for erosion control, slope stabilisation and
bioengineering, due to the fabric's substantial mechanical strength.
Classified as woven,
meshes, nets and non-wovens, it lasts about 3 to 5 years depending on the
fabric weight. It also degrades into humus, thus, enriching the soil.
Coir Geotextiles when
used on the soft soil for construction of village roads have been found to perform
very well as reinforcement, filter, drainage and separation materials in
comparison to the conventionally used materials like synthetics, cement, lime,
etc.
The National Rural Roads
Development Agency (NRRDA) has approved Central Coir Research Institute (CCRI)
as a nodal institute for application of Coir Geotextiles in
construction of rural roads.
Indian Roads Congress
(IRC), New Delhi has also given the accreditation for the use of
Coir Geotextiles in the roads for a period of 2 years with effect
from 18 April, 2011.
For the evaluation of
its effectiveness, inter-alia a collaborative project has been initiated
by the Central Coir Research Institute with the National Institute of
Technology, Calicut with the in-principle approval of the Airports
Authority of India.
The government has
already decided to use coir geo-textiles for construction of rural roads in
nine states, under the Prime Minister's
Gram Sadak Yojana (Bharat Nirman). In the future, the
project is likely to be extended to all 28 states of the country.
Given the popularity of
the golden fibre in construction of roads, the coir industry may face
problems in catering to the huge likely demands unless adequate measures are
taken by the industry to have a decentralised production infrastructure
to cater to the huge requirements.
One of
the solution to this could be by taking advantage of
the Anugraha loom developed by the CCRI as the technique will come
handy for development of production infrastructure for manufacturing it.
With the initiatives of
the Coir Board, coir sector today is a supplier of geotextiles. The Board
is a statutory body established by the government under a legislation enacted
by the Parliament namely, Coir Industry Act 1953, for the promotion and
development of coir industry in India.
To promote this segment,
the Board has also established a testing laboratory for coir geotextiles at
the Central Coir Research Institute, Kalavoor.
Geotextiles made
out of coir are ideally suited for low-cost applications because coir is
available in abundance. Therefore, there is enough scope to enhance the
application. Coir fibers resemble the wood fibres in terms of
physical properties and chemical composition.
The geotextiles and
its related products have many applications and currently support many civil
engineering applications including roads, airfields, railroads,
embankments, retaining structures, reservoirs, canals, dams, bank protection,
coastal engineering and construction site silt fences.
Usually geotextiles are
placed at the tension surface to strengthen the soil. It is also used for sand
dune armoring to protect upland coastal property from storm surge, wave action
and flooding.
Besides, it promotes new
vegetation by absorbing water and preventing top soil from drying out. The
golden fibre is a 100 per cent organic naturally occurring fiber from
a renewable source obtained from coconut husk.
The advantage of the
coir is that it is not only hard but strongest among all natural fibers, which
can be spun and woven into different types of mattings.
Alleppey (Alappuzha)
is the nerve centre of Kerala's famous coir industry where one can
see coconut husks being beaten into fibre for making beautiful mats
and other coir products.
Both men and women are
actively involved in the production of coir in Kerala. The women are
mainly involved in the yarn spinning sector and the men in the product-weaving
sector. Coir Industry enjoys the status as the largest Cottage Industry
in Kerala, giving employment to over a million people.
Indian coir industry has
been fortunate to get a boost in the form of the ever increasing awareness
about eco-protection. The eco-friendly quality of coir will help it to hold its
ground even as it battles competition from synthetic fibres in
today’s developing world.
The coir Industry in
India has a strong position in the export orientation since several decades.
However, the pattern of
exports and its product mix has changed drastically. With more emphasis on
value-added products, the coir sector witnessed a significant change in the
total volume and value of exports.
At present, coir and its
products from India are exported to more than 80 countries and the US is the
single largest market with a share of more than 40% in the total export.
European countries together share more than 41 % of the exports.
However, the sector has
been confronted with a number of problems such as lack of access to timely and
affordable credit, absence of innovative channels of financing, low-level of
technology adoption, poor brand building and marketing, low-level of innovation
and low penetration of ICT to name a few.
During the 12th
Five-Year Plan, the coir sector has a vision of acquiring new dimensions by way
of following broad interventions : -
Creation of husk
collection banks is essential, to ensure optimum utilisation of
raw-material. Once it is set up, the present utilisation level of
coconut husks at 40% could be enhanced to 60%.
Modernising the
traditional processes of spinning and weaving by eliminating drudgery and
facilitate women to operate the machines.
Enhancement of the
present insurance scheme for providing compensation for accidental death and
partial/permanent disabilities along with introducing a new scheme for health
cover to coir workers to be undertaken.
The technologies/machinery
items developed by the research institutes to be demonstrated and transferred
to the grassroots level of the coir industry through appropriate extension
work.
Technological
interventions to be made through appropriate schemes for up gradation of
quality of coir and its products.
Certification of
Eco-Mark to be obtained for coir and its products, besides promoting it widely
in the international market.
Coir Mark Scheme to be
strengthened by extending the coverage of the scheme to the entire range of
coir products consigned to the domestic market.
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