HYDERABAD: Prashant Lingam and Aruna Kappagantula have battled depression, suicidal tendencies, attempted kidnaps and bomb blasts to start an organisation which built bamboo houses. “It was all unplanned. It started with a search for a sofa set and ended up with a plan to get bamboo furniture to the city and now, across the country.”, says Prashant.
In their search for a sofa set, they chanced upon a village called Katlamara near the Indo-Bangladesh border and realised that bamboo had a lot of potential and felt that it was a perfect alternative to steel and cement. Even though their family wasn't convinced, they leased some land and hired 20 craftsmen from Adilabad to begin work.
“It was hard for the first three years as people weren't very receptive to the idea back then. We ended up with a debt of `60 lakh. In addition to this, I broke my ankle and Aruna developed post-pregnancy complication which made us bed-ridden for close to a year and a half.”
“On top of it, the Indian Forest Act, 1927 restricts the transport of bamboo as they recognise it as a tree even though its grass. In 2013, the government also closed their mission to promote bamboo. This was a big blow to us even though in 2004, its market potential was calculated at `26,000 crore by the government.”
During this period, Prashant and Aruna experimented a lot in their workshop and worked on their technique which was finally beneficial for them even if Prashant was a management dropout and Aruna was a science graduate.
“We aren't engineers or architects but we know how bamboo works. This project provides employment for around five million people indirectly and directly.”, he said They got their first break when a principal of a school in Ramanthapur wanted a bamboo construction on his terrace and the one built by his architect collapsed. They approached him and told him that they would invest in the house - all he had to do was give them the place and one chance.
Universities like Harvard and Kellogs have come down to study their business model and Aruna went to the USA after being invited by the government. Prashant will soon be going to Kenya to train the tribals and impart some skills.
In 2015 alone, they built 150 bamboo structures and are in the process of building the largest single bamboo structure for the GHMC. It’s a 2,000 sft conference room with a metal roof.
“The same structure that is 2100 to 2400 per sft when built with cement and steel, now costs them 500 to 600 per sft. But what people must understand is that the bigger the bamboo structure is, the cheaper it is.”
Bamboo can't be cut anywhere else except by the tribes in Katlamara because of the law. So, it has to be transported from Meghalaya which is bound to be more expensive while bricks can be found anywhere. The main structure is made of bamboo boards which are just like plywood.
Elaborating on the process, Prashant says, “The men of the tribe must go and cut the bamboos after which it takes three women three days to weave it into 8x4 mats. Nine such mats will be pressed in factories close by to make one 9 mm board. These boards are dipped in chemicals which make the board water-proof and fire-proof.”
The wiring and plumbing can be done just like in conventional homes. It is also three degrees cooler inside the bamboo structures. There are provisions for ACs too. A 1,000 sft 2BHK home costs around `6 lakh, a 500 sft structure is `3 lakh.
The roof they provide is made out of aluminium but a lot of customers prefer terracotta tiles and other such materials. The construction of one house takes about 10-15 days but it varies depending on the size of the structure. They are inundated with offers currently.