A house for ₹4 lakh might seem nothing less than fiction. But the Kerala State Nirmiti Kendra (KESNIK) is all set to provide Kerala with such an option.
The house that the Nirmiti Kendra offers has two bedrooms, a toilet, kitchen and a veranda. The moveable fabricated house, as it is described, has been imagined and made a reality by the Laurie Baker International School for Habitat Studies (LaBISHaS), as a cost-effective and environment friendly option for the poor and the lower income groups. The ceiling and the walls of the moveable house are made of fabricated blocks.
Sustainable villages
The Kendra is also ready with plans to create what it calls ‘sustainable villages’ using eco-friendly and cost-effective construction techniques, according to Kendra chief technical officer R. Jayan. The plan is to have 30 model houses each, built with materials such as stabilised mud blocks and shell roofs. The houses would have bio-gas plants as well as technologies for energy conservation such as solar panels and rainwater harvesting. Some land would be provided to take up farming. Each such complex would cost an estimated ₹3.44 crore, he said.
The Kendra is ready with a mud option as well. A model mud house with mud walls, terracotta flooring and tiled roof.
Each such a house can be built with a budget of ₹7 lakh, as part of its efforts to take sustainable construction practices to the people and make people aware of sustainable building practices, Mr. Jayan said.
S. Anamika
