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Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

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<strong>Revitalization</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Rivers</strong> In <strong>India</strong><br />

<strong>Draft</strong> <strong>Policy</strong> Recommendation<br />

a. Handicraft<br />

Rural communities <strong>in</strong> Thailand, Indonesia, Philipp<strong>in</strong>es, Lat<strong>in</strong> America, and Africa<br />

are us<strong>in</strong>g vetiver leaves to produce various handicrafts.<br />

b. Ro<strong>of</strong> thatch<br />

Vetiver leaves last long at least twice as long accord<strong>in</strong>g to farmers <strong>in</strong> Thailand,<br />

Africa and the South Pacific (compared to the traditional grass they have used for<br />

thatch).<br />

Another report about vetiver thatch<strong>in</strong>g is that the leaves repel termites.<br />

c. Mud brick production<br />

Vetiver straw is widely used <strong>in</strong> Senegal, Africa, to make mud bricks that resist<br />

crack<strong>in</strong>g.<br />

Hous<strong>in</strong>g construction <strong>in</strong> Thailand uses bricks and columns made from clay<br />

composite to which vetiver leaves have been added. These build<strong>in</strong>g materials<br />

have rather low thermal conductivity, which makes the result<strong>in</strong>g construction<br />

comfortable and energy efficient, as well as a labour-based appropriate<br />

technology.<br />

8. SLOPE STABILISATION & DISASTER MITIGATION (Greenfield, 2008)<br />

a. 6.1 Introduction:<br />

Besides soil erosion, the Vetiver System (VS) can reduce or even elim<strong>in</strong>ate many<br />

types <strong>of</strong> natural disasters, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g landslides, mud slides, road batter <strong>in</strong>stability,<br />

and erosion (river banks, canals, coastl<strong>in</strong>es, dykes, and earth-dam batters).<br />

b. Use <strong>of</strong> Vegetation for Slope Stabilisation:<br />

Vegetation has been used as a natural bioeng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g tool to reclaim land, control<br />

erosion and stabilize slopes for centuries. Its popularity has <strong>in</strong>creased markedly<br />

<strong>in</strong> the last decades as more <strong>in</strong>formation about vegetation is now available to<br />

eng<strong>in</strong>eers and due to the cost-effectiveness and environment-friendl<strong>in</strong>ess <strong>of</strong> this<br />

“s<strong>of</strong>t” eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g approach.<br />

Annexures<br />

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