BENGALURU: Nivasa, a city-based NGO, has helped rebuild houses and construct a community centre in Thimmayanadoddi village on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The flagship project has led to similar activities in Udupi and Chitradurga.
Akhila Ramesh, an architect, is the brain behind Nivasa. Having studied urban design and project management in Singapore, she worked with Venkataraman Associates and RMZ Developers for about seven years.
Dissatisfied and wanting to make a difference in the world, she quit her job and joined the Centre for Social Initiative and Management, where she researched on rural housing in different parts of India.
“I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and interacted with people from different communities to understand their needs. I learnt that construction must be married to the socio-economic needs of the people,” she says.
The initiative was supported by NGO YogaKshema which appointed a community worker to align the people, and partnered with Canara Bank to give villagers access to finance and skill development. “We believe that if villagers are involved in the design decision making and building process, they can take ownership of their dreams,” she says.
In Thimmayanadoddi village – 21 km from Bengaluru – had 21 houses on a hilly terrain. The villagers belong to the scheduled tribe (ST) community and their livelihood depends on ragi farming and basket weaving.
“Through discussions with our focus group, we learned that the villagers wanted a closed structure, rather than an open hall as the community centre,” Akhila explains.
The organisation could not hire contractors from Bengaluru due to the high rates. “A local mason from the next village and other unskilled workers were roped in. They were first trained in Adobe Block technology, used by Dr Yogananda, former professor at Indian Institute of Science. All the volunteers were trained to make molds using soil and mix,” she says.
Apart from 14 houses and the community centre, Nivasa also installed rainwater harvesting units in the village. “As the land slopes north of the village, infiltration galleries were built along the slope. They will be recharged in the next two years,” Akhila says.
Griha is the name of the project undertaken in Udupi.
“We were asked for an extensive presentation of our plan. We got the funds from the deputy commissioner and a donor who streamlined the prototype using the mud brick technology. We are waiting for further approval to the take the project forward.”
In Chitradurga, a proposal has been given to the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Society to come up with a prototype. In Pattandur Agrahara, a slum in Whitefield, a prototype and few units are going to be built for the homeless. Project Suitcase is the construction of portable houses that can be dismantled and put together according to need. “It takes seven to 10 days to construct and can cost anywhere between Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000,” she says.
The business model follows a bottoms-up approach. “We study the mindset of the people. In Timmayanadoddi, our presence has increased the marriageable age girls and more children have enrolled in school,” she adds.