If necessity is the mother of invention, adversity brings out the best. Kandhamal district has proved it. As predominantly tribal districts face problems of road connectivity, thanks to fear of Left-wing extremists (LWEs) driving the contractors away, the Maoist-hit and economically-backward district has shown the way by adopting a road-building technique which can soon be a model.
The new technique, with soil stabilisation method, has been used by the district administration for improvement of a 10-km road stretch in Paniganda-Brahmanigaon-Daringibadi-MDR-60A under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) which covers infrastructure development in the Maoist-hit districts.
The technique, developed by a South African firm, blends soil with a chemical RBI Grade 81.
The blending helps improve engineering properties of poor soil to a required standard and does not necessitate more equipment and construction materials to be mobilised to the project areas.
The soil stabilisation technique is used in the construction of runways.
The district administration has so far completed 4-km stretch using the stabilisation technique in the last three months and is satisfied with the results after initial tests. The innovative method will be critically examined during the rainy season after which a full assessment of its performance will be available.
With the Naxal-hit areas failing to draw contractors, the new technology has attracted the attention of the Government which has asked for its details from Kandhamal Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil.
The matter came to notice during a recent video-conferencing on IAP by the State Government.
Officer on Special Duty in the Planning and Coordination Department RV Singh has now written to Patil asking for a detailed report of the project.
‘’As per your observations, the material is a better substitute for cement-concrete mixture and best suited for interior pockets where transportation of construction materials is very difficult. This is an innovative idea for connectivity sector and could be emulated in other districts,’’ said Singh’s letter to Patil.
In the last few years, the LWEs have gone berserk in the districts where they hold sway. Not only contractors have been targeted but also the heavy equipment, used by them, have been torched.
There have been several instances in Sambalpur and Malkangiri where the Maoists disrupted the road connectivity programmes by targeting the contractors which the Government is trying to tackle using its own manpower and an innovative technology.