About:

Coir Geo textiles, a permeable fabric, natural, strong, highly durable, resistant to rots, moulds and moisture, free from any microbial attack, has finally been accepted as a good material for rural road construction under the PMGSY-III.

Key Points:

1. As per the PMGSY new technology norms for road construction issued by the Government, 15% length in each batch of proposals, is to be constructed using new age technologies. Of this, 5% length of the rural roads are to be constructed using IRC Indian Roads Congress (IRC) accredited technology under PMGSY-III using Coir Geo textiles.
   
2. Hence, 1674 km road will be constructed using Coir Geo textiles in 07 states namely- 164 Kms of road in Andhra Pradesh (AP) , 151 kms in Gujarat, 71 kms in Kerala , 328 kms in Maharashtra,470 kms in Odisha, 369 kms Tamil Nadu (TN) and 121 kms in Telengana. The construction will need One Crore Sq. mtrs of coir Geo-textiles, that will cost around Rs.70 Crore.
   

Coir Geo textiles:

1. It is a permeable fabric, natural, strong, highly durable, resistant to rots, moulds and moisture, free from any microbial attack.
2. It plays an important role in soil erosion.
3. They protect the land and provide vegetative growth during the formative period after which degrade into the soil.

PMGSY:

It was launched by the central Government in December 2000 to provide all-weather friendly single road connectivity to the prescribed size.

PMGSY-III:

1. Launched on December 18,2019, this phase aims to construct 1,25,000 km of roads with an estimated cost of about 80,250 crores rupees (Central Share of Rs. 53,800 crores) for the period 2019-20 – 2024-25.
2. The share of funds between the Centre and the states will be in the ratio of 60:40, but in 8 North Eastern states and three Himalayan states (Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) it will be in the ratio of 90:10.

Rural Development Ministry:

Headquartres– New Delhi

Union minister– Narendra Singh Tomar

Minister of State– Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti