Protection of flood and soil erosion by Vetiver Plantation : An experiment at three G.P.s of Arambagh Block in Hooghly District. Arambagh faces severe flood every year by its two main rivers namely Dwarkeswar and Mundeswari. In addition, river bank erosion resulting in the loss of fertile top soil has severe consequences on the lives and livelihoods of people residing in the adjoining areas. The traditional efforts to protect river banks against flood and soil erosion by high cost engineering and structural designs does not appear to be cost effective and sustainable solution to this perennial problem. The Block administration took refuge to indigenous ways by planting Vetiver grass through MGNREGS to protect river banks and adjoining fields from soil erosion and flood. PRE-WORK PHOTO SUCCESS STORY- II

The scientific name of Vetiver is Chrysopogon Zizanioides. It grows on any kind of soil — sandy, loamy, clayey, alkaline, acidic, saline, polluted with heavy metals — and tolerates very heavy rainfall as well as prolonged drought. The most important property of this plant is its ability to survive in total submergence in flood water for as long as five months. As a result, it is an excellent anti-erosion plant in warm climates and that unlike most grasses, it does not form a horizontal mat of roots. Rather, the roots grow exclusively 2-4 meters downward, which is deeper than some tree roots. Hedges made from vetiver can act as an excellent protection soil from erosion. The roots bind to the soil and block runoff of surface water. An interesting feature of the grass is that the more it is eaten by cows after it grows to a substantial length the more it grows, which is because of the existence of ‘lipase’, a substance helps it to grow faster. Procured Vetiver plants Work of planting Vetiver started

In addition, the cost incurred for this scheme is about 1/10 th as compared to other traditional methods usually adopted for protection against soil erosion and flood. 3 schemes of Vetiver plantation were approved in Moloypur-I, Moloypur-II and Arandi-II Gram Panchayats. Balia village of Moloypur-I G.p. was selected as pilot G.P. for execution of the said scheme. The required numbers of vetiver plants were procured from reputed Bio-engineering farm of Assam. The stages involved in vetiver plantation: 1. Cutting and clearing light jungles and trees 2. Earth work in bank trimming to the designed section slopes including removing the spoils depositing in the bank or toe of the embankment. 3. Dressing of slope, planting of permanent hedges including digging of trenches, refilling excavated earth with farmyard manure. 4. Plantation at site. Preparation of land for Vetiver Clearing of weeds at work site

With implementation of this scheme, not only a fair numbers of persondays were generated but also a stretch of 300 meters of river bank (west side) of river Mundeswari have been protected from flood and soil erosion. The Scheme at a glance Name of the scheme : Anti erosion measure with innovative VS-9 Vetiver system at Balia Village against the erosion of Mundeswari River(West side) at Sonai Paramanik`s Land Length : 300 metreTotal persondays generated – 4112 Scheme code : 15/09/06/07/008Date of commencement – Estimated cost :4,39,650/-Date of completion Name of the scheme : Anti erosion measure with innovative VS-9 Vetiver system at Balia Village against the erosion of Mundeswari River(West side) at Sonai Paramanik`s Land Length : 300 metreTotal persondays generated – 4112 Scheme code : 15/09/06/07/008Date of commencement – Estimated cost :4,39,650/-Date of completion Planting Vetiver in dug up trenches by S.D.O. Arambagh Grown up Vetiver plants