Vidharba Trail Day I

Lok Awas Yatra is being organized in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra from 8th September to 12th September 2009. There are 26 participants in this trail of the yatra; 7 from Bundelkhand region, 9 from Marathwada region and 10 from Vidharba region. IN addition, there is a 4 member video documentation team. The participants are representatives of NGOs, panchayats, government departments, masons and artisans, etc. Besides these participants there are 4 representatives from basin-SA and 4 from film crew.

Day 1 of the Yatra began at CSV campus with the lighting of lamp by the Chief Guest Ms. Gunjan, CEO Zilla Parishad, Mr. Sameer Kurvey, Secretary CSV and Pankaj Khanna of DA. Thereafter, Mr. Kurvey welcomed all the participants and representatives from basin-SA.

Addressing the participants Mr. Kurvey touched upon the issues of climate change, global warming and water scarcity. Construction, he mentioned, is a major source of pollution and carbon emission. He shared that various organizations are working in different spheres. For instance, CSV has been making efforts to develop and promote alternate technologies for environment friendly habitat. However, the success remains limited and isolated. Therefore, there is a need to come together and take such innovations and developments forward. Lok Awas Yatra organized by Development Alternatives is one such initiative that will lead to information gathering and sharing. The participants will get exposed to various technologies and options available for construction in rural areas. They will be able to gauge how construction should take place in rural areas and what provisions should be made in the policy for multiplication and replication of such efforts. He also observed that CSV has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the local government and which he hoped would continue for replication of its innovations.

In her address, Ms. Gunjan welcomed all the participants on behalf of the district administration and assured administration’s full support in the initiative. She mentioned that, traditionally, construction used to be context and context specific; the current situation demands for alternate development models and also making the alternatives available to people for eco-friendly and cost-effective construction. Also, buildings today consume much more energy than desired on account of cooling and lighting. Technology dissemination is important to up-scale and replicate the good practices. The viability of the option and availability of raw materials and market linkages should be given due consideration in technology dissemination. She shared that the Yatra should be taken as experience-sharing and participants should think on the lines of how any model would work in their respective areas and if any value addition can be done in the existing model. She also shared that every year about 2000 – 3000 houses are constructed in Wardha district under the IAY; the cost per unit is 45,000. She assured that if any alternate model can be worked out for IAY the department would extend the necessary support required for its implementation. She emphasized that planning should be done in an integrated manner. Giving example of drinking water supply, she mentioned that while doing water budgeting there is no provision for water required for animals and agricultural activities. The Yatra becomes even more important in the current context as the existing Housing Policy has a strong focus on urban areas and does not deal with specific issues related to rural habitat. The yatra would act as a platform for making the voices heard. It would bring together the interest group and act as a catalyst in lobbying for the policy change which is critical for influencing policy. In the end, she advised all the participants to have interactive recap sessions, look for alternative planning systems and implementation through IAY.

After Ms. Gunjan’s address, Pankaj Khanna from basin-SA shared with the participants the genesis and importance of this Lok Awas Yatra. He shared that the earlier consultations held by basin-SA for the formulation of rural habitat policy brought into focus the key role played by PRIs. This supported the idea of having a Lok Awas Yatra aimed at identifying and visiting the good practices; learning from each other and seeing how such practices can be applied in other areas. In nutshell, this yatra is a platform for knowledge gathering and knowledge sharing, which should ultimately show direction to the state for policy formulation. For success of the yatra, it is critical that the yatris participate actively and involve themselves strongly in observing and understanding the new innovations and practices observed during the yatra.

Post lunch all the participants introduced themselves to the group. Sharing their expectations from the yatra, many participants said that they expected to learn about new technologies for habitat development, adapt and implement them in their respective areas. The process of implementation was also identified by some as a learning objective.

Continuing the session, an introductory presentation was made by Mr. Pankaj Khanna. He briefly discussed the origin of basin-SA and its journey till date. The importance, objective and thematic focus areas of the yatra was clearly established and the itinerary over the next five days was discussed.

Technology innovations of CSV

As recorded in demonstration by Prashant

Wardha House Model

There are following innovations in house construction materials and techniques –

Design criteria –

Reducing cost of construction, particularly walling and roofing, Making the best use of locally available material, Existing skill sets which can be tapped, Low energy consuming, least harm to environment, climatic response

Traditionally half cut locally burnt conical tiles, kavelu, were laid adjacent to each other to form the roof on an understructure of bamboo mat, bamboo purlins and wooden rafters. This was not durable and would break in case of sudden loads, specifically monkeys in the region. As a result, both maintenance cost and time would be high and the practice has been rapidly replaced by conventional roofs like RCC. This had a dual adverse impact on both livelihood of local potters and also high energy consuming construction which would not always guarantee durability. Additionally, the monetary cost of construction also increased.

Roof – A conical tile which is a tapred burnt clay tumbler is a unit of roof cconstruction. The tiles are laid in the profile of a reverse catenary arch, forming a load bearing vault and joined together by locking one conical tile into another. The formwork for the arch comprises of fabricated MS trusses over which bamboo poles are fixed as support along the length of the vault. After laying the conical tiles for the entire roof, the formwork is removed in 24 hours. The roof is finished with a cement concrete layer and topped with broken china mosaic which acts as both waterproofing and a heat reflective skin for the roof. The roofing alternative affords the following benefits –

• No understructure needed, specially wooden rafters which are expensive.
• Livelihoods to local potters
• Appropriate for weather extremes of hot and dry climate- the conical tile has an air cavity and the broken china skin reduces heat ingress.
• Cost effective – Rs.65 per square feet uptill 12 feet span which is around 75% of conventional option
• Durable, stable and monkey proof – load carrying capacity of 1500 kg per sq.m

Wall – Infill construction technique using manually moulded earth blocks with a burnt tile on the wall exterior face to resist deterioration by water. The earth blocks are un-stabilized for affordability and make good use of the local black cotton soil which is expansive in nature. Production is on-site. The blocks cost Rs.3 per peice, including Rs.2 for the tile, 50 paise for soil and 50 paise for labour. The block size is 9’X9”X4”. The volume of blocks is equal to 3 bricks.

Wardha House model

The wardha house model consists of conventional stone foundation , with a frame structure of brick columns and RCC beams. The infill wall material consists of walling system of mud blocks in mud mortar as described above. The conical tile roof rests on the rcc beams supported by the brick columns. The usual span of these roofs is 12 feet and can be multiplied over larger lengths. Greater stability and more efficient structural design has been achieved by also laying the RCC beams in an arch profile thereby creating double curvature. The inside surfaces of the walls are coated with mud plaster with minimum stabilisation. The overall earthy appearance has a unique aesthetic charm. The cost of a house varies from 300-550 RS/sft. A 200 sft house can be completed in 3 weeks by 2 masons and 4 labour.

The following points were discussed in the context

• Acceptance issue- The primary hurdle that the model faces is due to the perception that mud construction has in rural psyche. Mud houses are considered undurable and a backward image attached to it. 
• CSV as a policy undertakes complete house construction and not just roof/wall construction to ensure quality control.
• CSv has faced immense hurdle in getting the technology approved for goverment projects since the technology has still not been included in the CPWD rates list.
• Inspite of this the wardha house model has been adopted by the following government departments

• NIRD

• Education dept Mahrastra

• Forest dept

• PWD

• Police dept

• CPWD

Rain water harvesting and recharge

• Roof water is collected and is used for recharging the ground water.
• Done via PVC down-take pipes. Water collected during the first rainfall of the season is allowed to overflow through controllable valve. Subsequent rain water is filtered by an in-built sieve. The filtered water is then directly sent to the borewell. A section of the plumbing incorporates flushing away mechanism for dirt, leaves, etc. that gets collected over the time. This is done once in a week.
• Depth of the borewell – 250 feet.

Sanitation- household level

The overall approach favours individual toilets over community toilets because of the social inhibitions connected with maintaining and cleaning somebody else’ waste. The following range of 10 sanitation options were demonstrated through sanitation-park in the campus.

Treatment systems

• Leach-pit/ infiltration pit is the most commonly adopted system in the various options. This comprises typically of two pits, around 3’ x 3’ x 3’ which are used alternately. An option of two pits with a common wall was also introduced in addition to pits separated by 1 metre, which would need at least a 10’ x 10’ space at the household level. Also, a twin-pit model with a modified inspection chamber with a deep slope reduces the distance between the toilet and pits by eliminating the pipe run between the two. Reinforced brick panels have also been used as covers for leach pits.
• A septic tank of 7’ x 4’ x 3’ (depth) connected to a single leach pit was another option. From the point of view of suitability and water consumption, the leach pit is considered a better option than the septic tank, which if not constructed with technical accuracy, can frequently be in-effective due to improper sizing and over-flow. In addition, the soak-pit poses a threat of groundwater contamination.
• An eco-san model was demonstrated in which urine is separated at source and can be re-used as fertililzer with 10% dilution.
• An anganwadi toilet model was downsized to scale of children. The model was developed for sanitation in schools and uses discarded glazed ceramic tiles to fashion a pan. The toilet design also allows opening the toilet by an adult standing outside, in case needed. Ownership and comfort level of a child using the toilet is an important design achievement.

Toilet pan

• An alternative pan of a deep 40 degree slope (as compared to conventional 20 degree) and a glazed surface needs only about 2 litres of water for flushing. Also, the conventional water seal is replaced by a flap seal made with GI which also closes off back-flow and odour.

Superstructure

The following options were demonstrated –

• In-situ ferrocement construction, 1.5” thick with a slight four sided slope in the roof
• Half brick thick masonry with a single 6mm bar reinforcement after every two courses to address settlement of superstructure on unstable black cotton soil. The roof comprised of two precast brick panels.
• Bamboo panels sandwiched with cement mortar.

Gray water recycling

Spilled water recycling at handpupms

In order to re-use the water for secondary purposes, commonly spilled during filling at hand-pumps, the design was modified to raise the level of the handpump platform. Spilled water is then directed to twin sedimentation chambers connected to a final collection chamber (for water to be re-used) and a soak pit for occasional desilting of the sedimentation chamber

Recylcing of household water from bathing and cleaning

A pit of 3’x3’x3’ is connected to the bathroom and filled with graded rocks/ boulders to facilitate percolation. This also enables use of the pit space and safety in case of anyone crossing over the pit.

Alternative energy supply

Deen Bandhu Bio-gas Model:

• Input – cattle refuse, can also be connected to a household toilet.
• Output – gas + slurry (fertilizer for agriculture)
• A bio-gas plant with the capacity of 3 cu.m is sufficient for a family of 6-7 persons and costs Rs. 12,000 (1 cu.m of refused is generated by 1 cattle).

Balaji Bio-gas Model:

• Batch type bio-gas plant.
• Capacity is 10 cu.m.
• Need to fill in the plant with 20 tonnes of cow dung once in 6 – 8 months.
• 6.5 cu.m of gas is generated every day.
• Electricity is generated by an alternator powered by FIAT car engine which runs using bio-gas as the fuel.
• 10KW electricity is produced by this bio-gas model.
• De-sulpher box is used to reduce the smell of bio-gas.

Evening session

Discussing about the benefits of CSV house model, Mr. Kurvey said that it cuts down the cost by 40 per cent. It is context specific in terms of being insulated and waterproof.

• On the issue of mud house being ‘kutcha’, he said that this issue is debatable. Who decides what is kutcha and what is pucca? How pucca is the so-called pucca structure is also debatable, specially given the fact that many ‘pucca’ structures constructed with reinforced concrete result in leakage on a regular basis.   
  
• On the issue of use of vault roof being limited to one-storey construction, Mr. Kurvey emphasized on expanding horizontally rather than vertically and a result, being more close to a natural/organic elements. This He said that CSV house is appropriate in terms of aesthetics, climate and cost.
• It was shared that in order to up-scale the application of this model, government support is must.
• On waste management Mr. Kurve said that the focus should be on agro-waste management, human waste management, animal waste management and waste water management.
• A participant from the government department shared that till now government has only launched schemes and sanctioned budget. It had not looked into the rural habitat issues as such. This is the first time that government has sent someone for such an exposure visit.
• Discussing the hurdles in habitat development, participants discussed the issues of political will/influence and corruption; power equations among the rich and the poor; motivation of the IAS officer and sarpanches. It was emphasized that the role of panchayats in habitat development should be increased. It was highlighted that as and when a model is implemented in the state, it will start getting replicated slowly as potential users witness the potential benefits and impacts.

• The number of waterproofing companies is India is almost 200 as compared to just 20-30 cement companies. This breaks the myth of cement roofs being waterproof . Sameeer kurvey
• If 100% sanitation is achieved in south asia, then thre will be no water left for flusing these toilets. We need to rethink about the current water intensive sanitation systems.
• Rural habitat schemes by government are limited to just blind funding and rechecking these balance sheets. Govt Engineer
• Rural people look up to urban areas for adoption of house models. Govt engineer
• Schemes are all around, but implementation is faulty- due to lack of political will.
• Role of panchayats should be increased in the implementation of habitat schemes.
• Parallel to the government processes – movement of sustainability  by civil society and peoples movement at the grass roots level. Discussion outcome.