MillenniumPost
Bengal

Vetiver grass cultivation project to prevent erosion

A unique project to cultivate Vetiver grass to prevent soil erosion in Nadia has been going on in full swing. If successful, the project will be the first step in combating erosion in the flood ravaged area in the country.

The Chief Minister has named the project as Sabujayan and had inaugurated it on 23 November, 2015. There is a plan to set up around 50 nurseries where slits of the grass will be multiplied 10 times within two months. Already 4 nurseries are functioning at a full swing with attempts to set up the remaining ones within the next three months.

There is a proposal to set up 743.92 km grass made embankment in the flood prone Nadia district. There are six rivers- Bhagirathi, Jalangi, Ichamati, Churni, Mathabhanga and Padma flowing over the district. The rivers cause flood and crores of rupees are spent every year, either to repair the portion of the embankment that got damaged or to construct new ones. Grass walls will be set up along the embankments to prevent soil erosion.

After coming to power in 2011, Mamata Banerjee urged the scientists to come up with schemes to combat flood.

Dibyendu Sarkar, commissioner, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) said that the grass will be grownin Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.  The root of the grass goes 15 to 20 feet below the ground and creates some sort of a net that prevents erosion. But bringing the grass from these states in huge quantity would be economically not viable and so Chief Minister had directed scientists to set up nurseries where the grass would be produced to cater to the huge demand. 

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