(a) whether the Government proposes to make use of ordinary soil instead of gravel to construct roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
(c) whether the said proposal is likely to have an adverse impact on the quality of the roads, if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT)
(a): The soil having desired physical properties indicated in the Code of Indian Road Congress (IRC) SP:20, Ministry of Rural Development’s (MORD) Book of Specifications for Rural Roads published by IRC and other relevant IRC guidelines is used in PMGSY roads. IRC has published guidelines for Stabilization techniques using lime, Fly Ash etc which can be used for stabilization of locally available materials such as soil, gravel, murrumsetc leading to prescribed strength of proposed layer. IRC has also published ‘Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements for Low Volume Rural Roads” IRC:SP:72-2015, which provides a design chart for Cement Treated Bases and sub bases in which soil can be stabilized for rural roads.
(b) & (c): It has been prescribed in the Guidelines of the Ministry and the relevant IRC Codes that all rural roads should be designed for a minimum sub grade CBR of 5% (California Bearing Ratio or CBR is a measure of soil strength and quality). Where subgrade strength is less than 5%, various measures of sub grade soil stabilization can be adopted to improve the sub grade strength to 5% or more. MoRD Specifications already provide relaxation in respect of grading of materials for Granualar sub base layer. The use of soil with acceptable properties would not affect the quality of rural roads.
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