The Hindu : Business : A promising use for jute in rural roads

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 25, 2004

Business

Business

A promising use for jute in rural roads

The intensely competitive packaging sector and the uncertainties of the packaging market make any alternative use a worthwhile proposition.

Jute geotextiles being tried out in road laying

THINK OF jute and the picture that springs before your eyes is sacks, gunny bags and at best dusty twines whose loosely woven yarns trigger a dreadful sneezing bout.

Yet there are many lesser known applications of this natural fibre — which can be blended or used in its stand-alone form.

These applications are seen in a gamut of areas ranging from nurseries and pest control to strengthening embankments for roads and railways. Recently the fabric has caught the fancy of top rung fashion designers.

Now, a pilot project involving the use of jute geo-textiles for road construction is expected to increase the possibilities of the environment-friendly material. This will also reduce the threat faced by the golden fibre which has lost some of its glitter in the wake of stiff competition from synthetics.

The project, which is likely to get under way next month, will be taken up in the rural areas of four States to begin with — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. It comes under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadhak Yojana (PMGSY) covering a total stretch of 40 km. Andhra Pradesh and Assam are expected to join later.

The Jute Manufactures Development Council (JMDC), a Union Textile Ministry body for promotion of jute and jute products, has signed up with the National Rural Roads Development Agency and the Central Road Research Institute for implementing the project.

While the NRRDA is the nodal wing of the Union Ministry of Rural Development entrusted with implementation of PMGSY, the CRRI is a body under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. The CRRI has already identified eight trial stretches in four States measuring 36.8 km on which detailed project reports were prepared suggesting appropriate specifications of jute geotextiles. The CRRI will also monitor the performance of the fabric and the road for 18 months after completion.

It is not as if jute geotextiles have not been used before. Their eco-compatibility, easy availability and transportability help them score over the synthetic versions. As road construction materials they help by enhancing strength while checking subsidence.

They have proven their suitability beyond the controlled conditions of laboratory experiments and have been used on soft marine soils at the Kakinada Port in Andhra Pradesh, Kandla Port in Gujarat as also in West Bengal (including stretches of the Strand Road which skirts the Hooghly).

Laying of jute geotextiles in road embankment

As a matter of fact jute geotextiles had been in sporadic use since the 1980s but lack of proper documentation had dimmed their chances of becoming the material of choice.

But this time around, as efforts are being mounted to dovetail jute geotextiles into the PMGSY and promote their large scale use, it is causing a bit of excitement. The reason is not far to seek.

Says Arun Bal, secretary, JMDC, "The consumption of jute geotextiles will get a tremendous boost with standardisation after execution of the pilot project". Mr. Bal's optimism regarding the emerging opportunities for jute geotextiles is perhaps well-founded. An investment of Rs. 60,000 crores has been envisaged under the PMGSY, and according to Mr. Bal, if only 10 per cent of this project could be clinched by jute geotextiles, a demand of around two lakh tonnes of this material, valued at Rs. 500 crores, would be generated. However, the material will be suitable only for use on rural stretches as it is not amenable to taking heavy traffic loads.

As for the jute mills, manufacture of jute geotextiles can be taken up without major modification of existing equipment. Many big mills have already introduced colour to their production basket by including items other than hessian, sacking and carpet backing cloth. Items of urban styling and home decor have already found a market. Of the total production of 15.71 lakh tonnes of jute goods in 2003-04, about 2.82 lakh tonnes was in non-traditional items.

In case the project takes off it is sure to bring cheer to the big mills. The intensely competitive packaging sector and the uncertainties of the packaging market make any alternative use a worthwhile proposition.

This is as true for the domestic market as for the export market, especially in European countries which offer a ready market for eco-friendly modes of laying roads.

Indrani Dutta
in Kolkata

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