A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 United Nations Development Programme - UNDP Part B1 Name of the project The Shelter Project Type of project Sustainable Habitat Development and Opportunities of Livelihood options Reason of selection for documentation As expressed by UNDP The Shelter project is one of the main programmes under which UNDP operates in Orissa. It is a model for sustainable development that UNDP wants to experiment with and learn from. Based on the output of this project, UNDP plans to take up large-scale developmental activities in many other parts of the state and the country. As seen by the documentation team The shelter projects include in its planning and implementation all the phases necessary for the successful propagation of building technologies in a particular region and the sustainable development of that region through the use of those technologies. Hence it is a good example to study appropriate construction efforts on a large scale like this and be able to come out with an exemplary model of development that can be used in other places. The Orissa context Population The population of Orissa is 35 million, of which 86% of the people are rural and only 14% are urban. There are 62 different tribes, which make up 23% of the country’s tribal population. There are 971 females as against 1000 males. Education The overall literacy rate is 53% but the female literacy rate is only 35%. Culture and religion Orissa has a mixed population with people of different religions living in closely bound communities. The majority of the people are Hindu. Health and sanitation The infant mortality rate is 98 as against 1000 births. 53% of the population is malnourished and only 49% of the people have access to safe drinking water. 13 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 Economy and occupation Orissa is economically the second lowest state in India. The chief occupation is fishing and agriculture, chiefly, rice and paddy cultivation. 2,50,000 children are employed in child labour. Geographical information It covers an area of 155,707 square kilometres. The state of Orissa has 30 districts and 314 blocks. Orissa is amongst the states most vulnerable to natural hazards. The unique geological features, geographical position and behaviour of monsoon make this region among the most natural hazard prone in the country. It is vulnerable to Cyclones, Floods, and Earthquakes and certain areas of Orissa are high-risk zones vulnerable to all these hazards. The risk of natural disasters Orissa is a multi-hazard prone state requiring drought proof mitigation in the western parts and mitigation related to floods and cyclone in the eastern deltaic coastal parts of the state. In the recent past Orissa was ravaged by two major calamities, the Super cyclone in 1999 and the flash floods of 2001 between which there was a drought spell in 2000. 14 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 The Super cyclone in 1999 This was experienced in 14 coastal districts with wind speeds as high as 300 km/h. The damage caused was enormous with a death toll of 8,495 people about 4,50,000 cattle. 2 million houses were destroyed and 23,000 schools were damaged. Power supply was disrupted in 19,062 villages and all means of communication was paralysed for a few days. The drought in 2000 This affected 28 districts. The rainfall shortage caused a failure of Kharif crop. There was 3.9 lakh hectare loss of paddy land which, when converted into money value, resulted in a loss of 6.64 billion rupees. 7.6 lakh farming households were affected leading to starvation, death and migration. 11% of the children were acutely malnourished and there was an increase in child labour and bonded labour. The Floods 2001 This affected 24 districts, which included 219 blocks and 18,790 villages. 9.678 million people were affected with a recorded death toll of 102. 9 million hectares of crop was lost which amounted to a loss of 14.83 million USD. 2,50,615 houses were damaged. 15 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 The state of housing These two successive disasters widened the housing shortage to 60%. In Orissa, 78% of the population lives in the villages and most of the houses are kutcha -made of bamboo, mud and thatch. These houses are not only vulnerable to natural disasters, but also require high maintenance costs and periodic replacement of building materials. Two million houses were damaged after the super cyclone, while the floods damaged another 275 thousand. The housing gap soared from 60% after the Super cyclone to even more after the floods. The Government of Orissa had initiated the rehabilitation of 350 thousand homeless after the Super cyclone under various housing schemes of which 125 thousand houses have been completed. After the floods, rehabilitation for 100 thousand houses has been announced so far. After the cyclone, 6 lakh IAY houses were allotted for coastal Orissa by the government of India. These could hardly get complete basically due to lack of technical know-how and shortage of skilled manpower. The Shelter Project Background UNDP came in Orissa after the super cyclone, which had resulted into a mass scale destruction of life and property. The challenge thus was not only to build new shelters but, to rebuild the spirits and morale of the people. The real task was to be able to re-establish a communal habitat, which gave a sense of belonging to the people. To achieve this the obstacles were many. There was a need to build in the available meagre resources, to identify and proliferate technologies which were cost effective and eco-friendly, to establish a village planning and development process involving the community and government, to generate employment and livelihood options, to build a skilled work force which was capable to build effectively in the given set of constraints and to allow formations of federations and networks which gave a sense of united community spirit. About the project The shelter project was formulated by Ms. Richa Swarup, who was under deputation from HUDCO to UNDP Orissa after the super cyclone. It was launched in 4 of the worst affected coastal district of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Balasore. It aims to catalyse and sustain a building movement, to generate self-employment opportunities, to bring about capacity building of the community and the local NGOs involved in this sector and to formulate and follow a planned development. It can be broadly divided it three phases along the time line, namely 16 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 Phase 1, October 1999 Restoration and immediate rehabilitation When UNDP arrived in Orissa the general state of affairs was chaos. There were huge amounts of relief material being poured into the region but due to the lack of a planned relief programme the aids were not getting distributed effectively. Even the manpower was not organized, hence, there were motivated people ready to help but did not know who to go about doing it. UNDP began by rescue and relief distribution efforts. When the waters had receded they got busy in the construction of summer cum monsoon shelters. They improvised on the traditional building technologies, making use of local materials to roof the shelter less and protect them from the immediate summer heat and ensuing rains till they were re-housed. For example, they strengthened these temporary shelters by using cross bracings in case of bamboo structures and through stones in case of stone masonry. Phase 2, Jan 2001 to June 2002. Habitat planning and technology transfer UNDP launched the project ‘Promotion of Alternative construction technologies and capacity building of the community for habitat development’ in January 2001. It was initiated in two blocks each in four of the worst cyclone affected districts of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Balasore. For the initiating development work it was felt important to first make a detailed survey of the present situation. Hence they got into the exercise of resource mapping. This included noting down all the various aspects of the village, such as social, cultural, economic etc., which were analysed for formulating a development plan for that village. Refer to the Resource Mapping reports of Kendrapara and Puri districts. In order to enable the people to respond to further disaster risks, vulnerability studies were made and risk and hazard maps were prepared. A Community Based Disaster Preparedness Programme was formulated. This included setting up an elaborate warning system, training the people to respond disaster situations by way of preparedness drills, etc. Refer to the CBDP documents. Refer to the document on Community Based Disaster Preparedness Programme For the rebuilding of the habitat within the means available to the people suitable building technologies were identified, which were cost effective, energy efficient gave livelihood options to the manufacturers and artisans and were easy to transfer and disseminate. Refer to the document on appropriate technologies. 17 MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects A&D, India Aug, 2003 To enable the people to build their habitat it was felt necessary to give them training in the art of building with these technologies. Firstly the UNVs were trained, who in turn trained the village level masons and artisans. Refer to the document on training. For ensuring community participation in the building process, ‘Nirmiti Samitis’ or village committees were formed to overlook the finances and construction of the buildings. Also, wherever possible the trained masons and local villagers were involved inn the labour. Refer to the document on Community Participation and mou of the villages. The actual construction involved the building up of multipurpose community centres, schools and individual houses. As per the habitat planning, construction of infrastructure facilities was also taken up such as development of roads, water supply, sewage disposal, electricity, and solar power, lift irrigation pumps and pond renovation. All this construction was carried out using the grants form the schemes already available to the people from the government, such as the Indira Awas Yojana housing schemes and the Samagra Awas Yojana, and other organizations such as Care today and MSSRF. Phase 3, July 2002 to June 2006. Livelihood connections It was realized that efforts to empower people were more effective if they were organized in groups as against developing the capacities of individuals. This is so because the group can act as a collective entity and achieve greater results. Hence, UNDP decided to organize the people in Self Help Groups. UNDP is currently promoting two kinds of SHGs, namely the artisan’s SHG, which is a collaboration of craftsmen involved in the building trade and the women’s SHGs, which is an association of local women who are looking for additional income opportunities for their families. For financing these schemes various available systems of micro credit, micro finance and micro enterprise are adopted. Mapping towards Habitat Development The activity of Resource Mapping, as the name suggests, is an exercise to gauge the present situation of the village. It is carried out to know the financial, social, land ownership and other aspects of the people and the geological, geographical, natural wealth of the villages. The process of how the resources are mapped is very interesting. Firstly a simple sketch of the road 18 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 layout of the village is made on the floor with a chalk. Then an adult from each and every household comes and marks his own house position on the layout and gives all the information that is filled by the UNVs in the questionnaires that are already prepared before beginning the whole exercise. Thus it is like a census but one that is done involving the entire community and one that gives a whole picture of the village and people, not just some facts collected in isolation. The activity itself becomes a festive occasion in the village. Disaster Preparedness Considering the natural disasters it was felt necessary to prepare the people to better face these disasters rather than just rebuild their habitat. Hence an elaborate system of forecast and warning was assembled. Multi-hazards Management Plans at block and village level were prepared. Groups were formed to respond to hazards. Village sensitization meetings, mock drills and similar exercises to respond effectively in disaster situations were carried out. Village Taskforces were formed and trained. The aim was capacity building of all the stakeholders and vulnerability reduction by linking up with the existing development programme. Appropriate Building Technologies Cost-effective and energy efficient construction technologies THE NEED FOR APPROPRIATE HOUSING TECHNOLOGIES Orissa is one of the poorest states in India where housing is a major problem. After the Super Cyclone the housing shortage increased to an all time high, where there were almost 2 million homeless. This was further aggravated by the flash floods in 2001 which damaged 2,75,000 houses widening the housing shortage to 60%. Orissa is a disaster prone state with a risk of multiple natural hazards. Most of the loss of lives and property happens due to poor structural stability of the locally made traditional buildings. Every cyclone that comes destroys these ‘kutcha’ houses and leaves the people shelter less. Hence, safe shelter is an important parameter for development. Each disaster carries within itself an opportunity to enable the community to rebuild their houses with disaster resistant technologies. A lot of construction activity in the rural areas happens with the help of grants received by way of the housing schemes initiated by the government and other organizations. These grants are often very small and inadequate for building the house with the help of a contractor and using the conventional technologies. 19 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 Inadequate transport systems make the procurement of building materials form outside the villages either impossible or very expensive. THE CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF TECHNOLOGIES A wide range of technologies is available, but many of the key stakeholders in the entire process are not aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the various options. Hence, the choices made for construction are the ones that are conventional. Most importantly the method of construction adopted should be one that gives a stable structure that can stand the ravages of nature and thus protect the life and possessions of the owner in the time of a natural disaster. Secondly, it should be cost effective so that the building can be completed using the available grant. Moreover, the technology should be easily transferable. Training of the technologies should be simple and easy. Additionally the technology along with the design of the building should be climate responsive and comfortable for human occupation. The materials used for construction should be locally available and should be able to generate local economies by way of manufacture and trade. OVERVIEW OF THE SELECTED TECHNOLOGIES The chief materials of construction are: - Burnt bricks or fly ash bricks for walling. - Mangalore tiles for the filler slab. It was realized that bricks are moulded and baked in the backyards of the village houses. Similarly, tiles for roofing are also made at the local level. Hence, using these materials would generate livelihood options for the villagers. The technologies promoted are: - Step footing in bricks for foundations. - Cone, well and I-beam techniques for foundations. - Rat-trap bonded brickwork for walling. - Arches and chajjas to span openings. - Reinforced brick lintel. - Filler Slab concreting for roofing. - Planks and joists for roofing. - Ferro-cement doors and windows. 20 MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects A&D, India Aug, 2003 Training Training of UNVs The first batch of UNVs were trained at the Narangarh Building Center by experts form HUDCO, ORHDC, Habitat Technology Group, CARE etc. architects and engineers. This batch of UNVs included planners, Many, among them were not sensitive in building in appropriate technologies and building. They were given an intensive training in building construction and project management. For more info on training programme see the UNDP training documents. Training of masons The masons for training were selected through community meetings and based on recommendations from the local government officials, local contractors, government engineers and the block administration. Also, participation of women masons is being promoted. At the end of the training the masons were issued a certificate attesting their skills in masonry. The funding for the training programme was also by various government schemes such as the ‘Sarva Sikshya Abhiyaan’ or ‘education for all’ scheme. Read more about the SSA scheme in the SSA documents. The training programme includes classroom training, in which the theory classes are conducted followed by hands-on training, which includes the construction of various building elements such as foundations, walling, openings and roofing. A small exhibition of the technologies and best practices is put up at the end of the programme. Leaflets printed in local language are distributed to aspiring house-builders. These training programmes generate awareness among the community and local administration These ‘trained’ masons gain a lot of social prestige and further go on to train more masons informally. A number of aspiring house-builders approach these trained masons during the training itself, thus generating immediate employment for them. The trained masons then carry out these constructions under the supervision of the UNVs & NGO Supervisors. The trained masons are engaged in the construction of TDUs, IAY and private houses. A number of government engineers and block office staff are also trained in the process. These trained government engineers supervise the trained masons during construction of government buildings. The community derives a lot of confidence when they see government buildings being built in appropriate technologies 21 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 Community Participation UNDP believes that if any building or technology has to find acceptance, it becomes of utmost importance to involve the community in the creation of that building. Hence, as far a possible UNDP tries to involve the end users, be it the community allotted a cyclone shelter or beneficiaries of private houses, in the building activity in various stages, such as supervision, accounts, monitory contribution and labour contribution. For the construction of the TDUs they came up with the concept of a ‘Nirmiti Samiti’, which is a committee formed of a few responsible villagers who would handle the actual money granted to them and thus keep a tab on the construction activity. In these committees the treasurer is generally a woman, hence ensuring the involvement of women in the process. See mou of the villages Self Help Groups Artisan SHG An artisan’s self help group is a collective of all the local people involved in the building trade, including masons, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, bar binders, painters etc. The design of the buildings can be made by the UNV or by the house owner. The idea is to form a ‘one-stop-shop’, where in the unified team takes up construction projects on a turnkey basis. Hence, a person desirous of constructing his building can approach this group and find all the services, from design to delivery, under one roof. This helps the group members to find a constant supply of work unlike previously when he worked on an individual basis. These groups are trained to specifically work in appropriate technologies that UNDP promotes, so that they are capable of completing the houses built under the stringent budgets of the government schemes. After UNDP moves out, the UNVs will become development technocrats’ and no longer give free service but will charge for their services. The SHG has to become self-dependent These SHGs are then federated at district level. They form a network and have regular meetings to discuss problem and implement improvements. The chief objective is to reinforce the capacity of these agencies so that they can carry forward the building movement initiated by UNDP, even after its withdrawl. The resources developed by way of the SHG can then be used to carry forward the process of technology transfer there. Woman’s SHG, A woman’s self help group is a committee of the local women in a village, which gives economic independence to women and empowers them. The women invest small sums of money in saving schemes. They sometimes use this money and sometimes apply for loans to start small-scale businesses, which becomes a source of livelihood for them and their families. They also have borrowing facilities, by way of which they have money readily available to them in the time of 22 MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects A&D, India Aug, 2003 need, which they can gradually return in easy instalments. UNDP connects these women to the various banks and institutions, which support such activities. Their women UNVs supervise their meetings and activities and make suggestions for further improvement to ensure the smooth functioning of the group. IT Kiosks The concept of IT kiosks in rural areas is introduced to disseminate information and bridge the digital divide. All that’s needed is one or two sets of computers with Internet connectivity, with a human operator, who acts as an interface between the villagers and the digital world. It is used for multiple activities such as accessing relevant market information for trade, communicating via the net to official and personal contacts, accessing and printing of various application forms, imparting computer training to village youth, publishing work and many more. UNDP support such initiatives by giving all kinds of assistance such as providing hardware, software and human resource. Refer to the documents on the kiosk run by Sambhabana under the IEC scheme The Orissa Appropriate Technology Forum The Orissa Appropriate Technology Forum is a platform for interaction of practicing engineers, architects, experts, academicians and people from different organizations, governmental and non-governmental towards research and promotion of appropriate housing construction technologies. The forum aims to formulate strategies for the propagation and institutionalisation of appropriate technologies and to consolidate and publicize the various works done in these technologies. It plans to take up activities of generating awareness and training, creating an interactive platform for exchange of know-how and resources. The impact of the Shelter project At a village level, the local community has realized the benefits of building in appropriate technologies. Over 250 IAY houses have been built in the 4 project districts. Many more IAY houses are to start soon. Even the rural rich are accepting these technologies and houses of 2000-3000 sq. ft are being built. Village ‘Nirmiti Samitis’ helped in bringing about more community involvement, development of project management skills, participation of women and backward sections of the society in the decision-making process. At the government level, after UNDP completed a few IAY houses within the grant, the district and block official have begun to acknowledge the benefits of the building technologies. They have now requested the UNVs to also train the government engineers. After seeing the 23 A&D, India MIPAA Mission Report – Part B projects Aug, 2003 technology exhibitions set up by UNDP, the government has also shown interest in dissemination programmes for the to the local masons and villagers. They have also announced the construction of a few government buildings in these technologies. The impact of the planning efforts Based on the resource mapping and habitat planning activities many development initiatives have now been taken up for the holistic development of the rural communities. ‘Adarsh Basati Yojana’, a model habitat-planning proposal, which was prepared for the Panchayati Raj department, has now been accepted for replication in all 30 districts of Orissa. The concept of ‘Amagaon’ has been taken up by the Government after being inspired by the Habitat Planning Scheme for the networking and integrated development of the whole of rural Orissa. Many village level initiatives are also being taken up, such as the habitat-planning proposal for Dalavanapur village in Puri District, on behalf of the Government of Orissa, which is being partly funded by the Habitat for Humanity Visit the ‘www.amagaon.com’ portal, which has been launched by the government. See documents on habitat planning. 24