SEVAI Shelter Projects
SEVAI Shelter is not a hand-out but a hand-up program.
In the village
building programme, we select the poor, small and remote villages which are
interested in development in all aspects with the help of SEVAI. House
construction costs skyrocketed making building construction almost
unaffordable to the masses. The energy crisis followed adding to the
problem. During later half of 20th Century, there was also greater awareness
about the environmental damage due to material manufacturing processes.
construction for the homeless and those affected by catastrophe like
cyclone, floods since 1976. SEVAI has also participated in the construction
of solid house scheme, Samathuvapuram Projects, apart from housing and
overseas projects supported by DESWOS, Germany, and Swiss FPV and FdnF. SEVAI
has promoted a building material production centre and also construction
management and masons training centre in Arumbuhal nagar, Trichy.SEVAI has
developed various housing models for schools, farmers market, Police
stations, and Police control rooms in Trichy over the years. SEVAI has
trained over 600 masons over the years. SEVAI has the capacity of mobilizing
the areas of masonry, carpentry, barbendry, house wiring, plumbers and
building multi mechanics. The shelter delivery system works through two
Building Material Services Banks which are building mate for 5 houses per
day. The two main products building cement Blocks and window frames will be
locally produced in Poovam in Karaikal. These materials can be chosen
because they were both cost planning steps will be implemented to ensure
that the end product would really target the design workshop with the
village the core houses and secondly, a process will be included a list of
the villages, other putting the list reconstruction cross-check. The house
takes into environmentally unsound
SEVAI
has been working in the field of house
500 construction skilled workers a day for masonry in
material production centres, producing material
cost-efficient and could be produced locally. Two crucial
poorest. Firstly, a
will be held together
communities to design
with the beneficiarie
step by step screening
introduced. This
all damaged houses in
cross-checking with
programmes and
to the village
committees for a final
design of the core
consideration speed of
ronmentally houses under IAY
rial e beneficiaries,
to offer appropriate solutions under
the community/NGO-based approach able to respond quicker, it was also more
targeted and offered less costly solutions for rehabilitation efforts than
the slow
bureaucratic government set
seeking middlemen (builders/masons) used in the government set
been replaced by more accessible village construction teams.
Measurements:
Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works;
Basic documents, specifications, type of clauses, sources of information,
specification
structure/content, preliminaries specification, typical trade specification,
cross
referencing and coordination of consultants.
Statistics, discount cash flow, probability.
Accounts:
Setting up software package accounts, access procedures, basic data entry,
rates
buildups, rates entry and practical application of knowledge to applied
measurement.
Construction management
Construction management, management functions, delegation and authority,
motivation, leadership, communications.
The property development process
constraints, marketing, occupation costs, property management.
studies on project management Construction.
Project management, procurement methods, design management, builder
selection
techniques, project planning control techniques, claims and dispute
management,
negotiation techniques, partnering.
Non-structural elements
Non-structural elements in cost
environment, suspended ceilings, partitions
and cost finishes.
Acoustic and lighting fundamentals.
Measurement and calculations.
Noise control.
Integrated thermal, visual and aural design.
By-laws and regulations.
Civil Technology
Civil engineering technology.
The movement of people, communication
and Organization systems.
Maintenance of buildings.
Facilities management.
production and construction, ease of
transportation of building elements and ease of
construction by local village masons, besides
incorporating structural aspects of tsunami
resistance. The design and detailing process will
be a continuously evolving one with input and
feedback from users and implementers being
incorporated into the design and new details will
be Community and NGO-based shelter
delivery systems
The approach outlined here will have
an extremely tight time schedule. Not only was
set-up. Another obvious advantage is that the opportunity
set-up has effectively
thod ion - site selection, market research, finance,
Interactive
The general economic theory, the price mechanism, supply and demand
analysis,
firms and industries, economic systems.
Labour, wages and employment. The
employment scene in rural areas was grim and
that was followed by heavy migration to urban
areas which caused numerous civic and social
problems. From the moment SEVAI Started its
housing project way back in 1977, SEVAI has been
involved with homes of many dimensions and
categories. And around the late '70s we got
involved with mass housing for flood and cyclone
victims. The designs were well-detailed; we
understood that Government can only act at best as catalysts. Over last two
decades, considerable work has been done in the field of alternative
construction
technologies. The knowledge and the experience gained have the potential to
impact
the construction scenario in the country. But, unfortunately, the knowledge
dissemination has been largely inadequate. The human resource development in
the
field is also limited. The end users also are not adequately aware of the
alternatives
that are available. Hence, there is an urgent need to reach out to various
stakeholders and potential change makers. SEVAI works in partnership with
local,
grass root community based Organizations such as Self Help Groups, Panchayat
Level Federations to reach people in need of decent
housing. The cost of construction is equally borne
by three stakeholders i.e. Beneficiary, Local
Government and SEVAI. Before we select a village,
we explain the conditions to the villagers, and put
them to tests and their participation in the
programme is assessed. It is along process of
learning for the villagers, including youth and
women. The villagers submit an application to
SEVAI requesting to develop their village and are
interested to learn village development activities.
Every week the village representatives attend the meetings and learn the
programme. They also visit the old villages which, were built by SEVAI to
see and to
meet villagers as to how they worked hard and developed their village. The
testing
process takes a few months. Meanwhile, we prepare a detailed project
proposal and
send it to the sponsors abroad. The common site also will be cleared and
made into
one plot, fix the village boundaries, prepare a systematic layout with clear
roads,
common plots, house plots, etc,. We also explain the conditions during the
construction programme and make the villagers understand it. The village
council is
also trained in that period. After the process is over we lay the village
foundation
stone with the visitors, if any or with the local govt. officials. Then the
villagers start
making roads, dig drains as per the new village layout, also start preparations for
tree plantation. If there is not much water facility in the village, we
drill a bore well
or two for starting the programme. Meanwhile, we collect the details of
materials
availability, take quotations and arrange materials for starting the work.
During
construction, one person from each family should work in the village. The
beneficiaries do not know where their house is, we build the village in a
learning
aspect. The youth from the village should learn construction skills like
carpentry, rod
bending, centering, masonry, etc., during the construction.
SEVAI Cost Effective Housing is a re
seeks to reduce the cost construction through better management, appropriate
use of local
materials, skills and technology but without sacrificing the performance and
life of the
structure. It needs to be emphasized that low cost housing does not mean
houses
constructed by utilizing cheap building materials of substandard quality. A
low cost house is
designed and constructed as any other house with regard to foundation,
structure, strength
etc. the reduction in cost is achieved through effective utilization of locally available building
materials and techniques that are durable, economical, accepted by users and
not requiring
costly maintenance, Economy is also achieved by postponing finishing and/simple
them in phases. Further, it aims at increasing the efficiency of workers,
minimizing wastage
in design and space and applying good management practices, so that shelter
can be
provided at prices which people can
and write their names and small words. During the construction time we take
the
attendance of the beneficiaries for the days they present in the work. After
completion of
the village, basing on the presence in the work, we allot the ho
prepare a detailed file for the process of village building programme and
fix a date to
inaugurate the village with the presence of the sponsors or by the local
government
officials.The people during inauguration; the village
part in maintenance and improvement of the village in all aspects.
SEVAI Principle applied to CONSTRUCTION:
SEVAI Construction to be truly Village building
1. should provide security
2. should be linked to learning
3. should be community work
4. should reveal newness
5. should fit in with the natural environment
6. should offer better future work opportunity
7. should have equally sharable results.
SEVAI PERSPECTIVES OF CONSTRUCTION
1. Architecture is the best and perfect science because it needs all other
sciences like
Physical science, Environmental science, Social science, Climatology,
Geology and so
on. And building is learning. Architecture is also a safety/security factor.
For
instance, after a cyclone we build houses for safety. So also, a house is a safety
measure against fire. A house is an asset, too.
2. A house is a factor of dignity. A person is judged in accordance with the
house he or
she owns. The One can always make improvem
3. A house also gives a sense of freedom. The owner of a house feels that
he/she is not
relative concept and has more to do with budgeting and it unction afford. The adults in the village should be able to read
houses for the beneficiaries. We
villagers make an oath saying that they take
ould ance, improvement on it.
a beggar, is not on the streets.
4. We build a house normally for a family. Livelihood and Housing:
The focus on the role of sustainable habitat
technologies and their contribution to livelihood
creation in various contexts of social housing
programs, reconstruction in post disaster
situations and setting up supply of affordable
technologies while catalyzing demand in the
lative implementing
ould uses rs zing
markets of the rural poor. A typical example in case is the initiative of SEVAI, a nongovernment
Agency in association with Econ Industries - a sister private sector
company. SEVAI (Society for Education, Village Action and Improvement) is a
voluntary service organization working for the integrated development of the
rural
poor in the villages and slums of Trichirapalli, coastal Nagapptinam,
Karaikal and
Pondichery through empowerment of the rural poor and active involvement of
target
community in all phases of program like planning, decision making,
implementation
and evaluation. One of SEVAIs significant achievements has been the
consolidation
of womens self-help groups for saving and group enterprise activities. More
than
6000 SHGs now operate under the SEVAI umbrella. Econ Industries produces and
sells building materials and provide skills for housing and other building
activities in
the region. SEVAI set up a revolving fund to finance the housing needs of
its
members. Loans, which are available at a small rate of interest, are linked
to the
products and services available from Econ. Econ on its part is committed to
the
production of 'Energy Efficient Cost Effective Materials'. With a 100%
recovery rate,
the SEVAI Econ partnership is set to demonstrate a viable and profitable
approach
to habitat upgradation of the poor.
SEVAI recognizes the need to provide shelter at the times of disasters.
Devastating natural disasters happen
often. Families left homeless by
disasters face uncertain futures; often
confronting dire housing needs as they
struggle to rebuild their lives. SEVAI
recognizes the need to provide shelter
and housing solutions to help these
families recover. SEVAI Disaster
Response program works with the
community in the areas of disaster
mitigation, preparedness, shelter
and long-term recovery initiatives to
address the housing needs that arise from natural disasters and humanitarian
emergency conflicts. The mission of Disaster Response is to develop
innovative
housing and shelter assistance models that generate sustainable
interventions for
people vulnerable to or affected by disasters. Disaster Response also builds
the
capacity of the community in the areas of disaster mitigation, preparedness
and
recovery through education, training and partnerships.SEVAI understands that
supporting families affected by disasters and conflicts requires immediate,
comprehensive and collaborative actions. SEVAI recognizes the need to
develop
long-term shelter and housing solutions for disaster-affected families and
to help
communities protect themselves against future threats in disaster-prone
areas.
Reconstruction of 1280 permanent Houses for tsunami victims.
The Tsunami of December 26, 2005 wreaked havoc on the coastlines of several
countries. It
caused serious loss of lives and livelihoods to the coastal communities of
India. The Tsunami
inflicted irrecoverable damages on human lives. In India alone, 10,672 lives
had been lost
and 5,711 persons were listed as missing. 647,000 persons had lost their
homes/household
assets and had been relocated into temporary shelters.
Building was not considered separate from designing, rather an evolving
relationship
through the construction process. It was hence, seen as essential, that the
design team is
locally situated and that the building process is not handed over to any big builder who
would enforce centralized decisions. Instead, labour teams were recruited
and trained in
quality construction work. The teams of house owners, cluster committee
members,
volunteers and modern master craftspersons (architect-engineer-community
development
officer) worked in tandem, making micro-level changes as they went along
within a broader
macro framework of quality construction.
A distinctive feature of SEVAI housing policy has been the model houses that
it has
constructed in real dimensions to give a range of options to house owners in
keeping with
their needs and aspirations for their future dwelling. This was very well
received by the
community and led to a participatory approach towards housing wherein the community
members knew from the outset about the house which belonged to them and in
turn
induced their participation right from customisation of design, to engaging
with masons,
contributing to the curing and discussing the progress of their houses and
concerns in
weekly and monthly meetings with SEVAI. The community participation and
ownership
stands amply vindicated by the house occupancy rate and the post occupancy feedback
provided by the house owners. It is not only the volume and scale of the
SEVAI
reconstruction project that makes it ambitious
but also people's participation being
attempted on an unprecedented scale in
such a housing project. In fact, the idea
has been
to go beyond mere participation and to
actually make it a people owned and managed
process. SEVAI played a crucial role in making
available information and analyses that could help
the people make the best choices. As a result the
project ensured strong anchorage of
technological and managerial decisions on
community input derived through sustained
consultation around issues such as settlement
location and planning, desirable common
facilities and spaces, house designs and technology choices. The realization
of these
principles crucially hinged on appropriate capacity building initiatives
targeted at
beneficiaries as well as technical personnel. The underlying objective of SEVAIS approach
has been to avoid the use of contractors. The envisaged beneficiary
participation implied
that they have sufficient knowledge to make the right decisions. A series of
training
programmes were carried out so as to enable them to make informed decisions
about
various options and choices available and stringently supervise observance
of safety
guidelines and quality control. Maintenance manual and extension guidelines
have been
evolved to create awareness among beneficiaries so that extensions do not
compromise the
structural stability of houses. Moreover, the project has supported documentation of
numerous exercises undertaken such of as manual for site engineers and
supervisors;
Poompuhar; water and sanitation baseline survey and a process documentation
of the
project has attempted to capture in detail the processes and lessons learnt
through the
reconstruction project for future interventions in housing in general and in
post-disaster
reconstruction projects in particular. Allur includes working with local people to replace all
thatched huts using cost-effective and innovative building materials, as
well as providing
basic infrastructure. The poor housing conditions in Allur have been
identified as one of the
problems faced by the villagers. Fifty- per cent of the village population
is dalits
(untouchables) and these and other poor households live in small thatched
huts made of
wooden sticks, mud and palm leaves, with
inadequate lighting and ventilation. The smoke
produced by cooking creates a health hazard
and high winds or fires frequently destroy the
huts. Social inequality within the villages is
increased by the stigma associated with living
in huts.
The Social Rural Housing project was initiated
by SEVAI, involved the training of village
groups in a range of livelihood and
construction skills, the development and dissemination of innovative,
cost-effective building
materials as well as encouraging social integration. The Allur housing
program Village aims
for total habitat development through the construction of homes using
innovative, costeffective
building materials and methods. Unlike the thatched huts that would need
replacing every three years, the new homes built to last and have improved
lighting and
ventilation. The elimination of thatched huts in the village has
significantly reduced the
vulnerability of villagers to the previously high risk posed by fires and
high winds. Health
risks associated with poor hygiene have also been reduced through the
construction of
toilets and reduction of open defecation. Village people have contributed
land, labour and
materials.
Many residents have received training as masons and/or in the production of
Hollow cement
blocks. The skills of young people and womens self-help group leaders in
particular have
increased through training and capacity building. Unemployment rates have
been
The elimination of thatched huts from the villages.
Capacity building amongst villagers including the most vulnerable members
of
society. Interest shown by other villages in learning from the experience
and the
potential for wide spread adoption of the programme. Social inequalities
being
overcome through education and empowerment. Foundations are built using
available granite rubble, thus avoiding mining and the use of explosives..
Small
businesses have been set up that are not capital intensive, for example
dairy
farming, baking, poultry which employs a large number of people. Small scale
production units have also been attracted to the village. The project
currently
provides employment for 180 persons. The elimination of thatched huts has
helped
to increase confidence amongst the poorest families and reduce inequalities.
The
residents have an opportunity for greater participation in planning and
decisionmaking.
Women have been empowered through leadership training and the
formation of self-help groups. An initial resistance by the local village
community
towards the new building techniques. It is important to make use of the SHGs
to
discuss and take collective decisions and encourage local people to take
ownership
of the process of development. Rural Housing project
in Allur has dramatically improved the health and
well-being of the village residents. They now have
more confidence, better skills accompanied by
livelihood opportunities and greater social
integration. Allur Housing has become a model
village in the region.
SEVAI Cost reduction
Normally the foundation cost
comes to about 10 to
15% of the total building and usually foundation depth
of 3 to 4 ft. is adopted for single or double store building and
usually foundation depth of 3
to 4 ft. is adopted for single or
double store building and also the concrete bed of 6"(15 Cms.) is
used for the foundation which could be avoi
It is recommended to adopt a foundation depth of 2 ft.(0.6m) for
normal soil like gravely soil, red soils etc., and use the uncoursed
rubble masonry with the bond
the foundation width is rationalized to 2 ft.(0.6m).T
formation in foundation the masonry shall be thoroughly packed
with cement mortar of 1:8 boulders and bond stones at regular
intervals.
It is further suggested adopt arch foundation in ordinary soil for
effecting reduction in construction co
foundation will help in bridging the loose pockets of soil which
occurs along the foundation.
In the case black cotton and other soft soils it is recommend to
use under ream pile foundation which saves about 20 to 25% in
cost over
It is suggested to adopt 1 ft. height above ground level for the plinth
and may be
constructed with
The plinth slab of
adopted can be
brick on edge can
cost. By adopting
of plinth
reduced by about
necessary to take
impervious
slabs or stone
building for
erosion of soil
exposure of
crack formation.
Wall thickness of
for adoption in
all-round the building and 41/2 " for inside walls. which are immersed in water for 24 hours and then shall be used for the
walls
It is a cavity wall construction with added advantage of thermal comfort
and
reduction in the quantity of bricks required for masonry work. By
method of bonding of brick masonry compared to traditional English or
Flemish bond
masonry, it is possible to reduce in the material cost of bricks by 25% and
about
10to 15% in the masonry cost. By adopting rat
aesthetically pleasing wall surface and plastering
can be avoided.
In view of high energy consumption by burnt brick
it is suggested to use concrete block (block hollow
and solid) which consumes about only 1/3 of the
energy of the burnt bricks in its production. By
using concrete block masonry the wall thickness
can be reduced from 20 cms to 15 Cms. Concrete
block masonry saves mortar consumption, speedy
construction of wall resulting in higher output of
avoided.
stones and good packing. Similarly
cost up to 40%.This kind of
the conventional method of construction.
a cement mortar of 1:6.
4 to 6" which is normally
avoided and in its place
be used for reducing the
this procedure the cost
foundation can be
35 to 50%.It is
precaution of providing
blanket like concrete
slabs all round the
enabling to reduce
and thereby avoiding
foundation surface and
6 to 9" is recommended
the construction of walls
It is suggested to use burnt bricks
adopting this
rat-trap bond method one can creat
duced To avoid cracks
st create
labour, plastering can be avoided
thereby an overall saving of 10 to
25% can be achieved.It is an
alternative method of construction of
walls using soil cement blocks in place
of burnt bricks masonry. It is an
energy efficient method of
construction where soil mixed with 5%
and above cement and pressed in
hand operated machine and cured well
and then used in the masonry. This
masonry doesn't require plastering on both sides of the wall. The overall
economy
that could be achieved with the soil cement technology is about 15 to 20%
compared
to conventional method of construction. It is suggested not to use wood for
doors
and windows and in its place concrete or steel section frames shall be used
for
achieving saving in cost up to 30 to 40%.Similiarly for shutters
commercially
available block boards, fibre or wooden practical boards etc., shall be used
for
reducing the cost by about 25%.By adopting brick jelly work and precast
components effective ventilation could be provided to the building and also
the
construction cost could be saved up to 50% over the window components. The
traditional R.C.C. lintels which
are costly can be replaced by
brick
arches for small spans and save
construction cost up to 30 to 40% over the traditional method of
construction. By adopting arches of
different shapes a good
architectural pleasing appearance
can be given to the external wall
surfaces of the brick masonry.
Normally 5(12.5 cms) thick
R.C.C. slabs are used for roofing
of residential buildings. By
adopting rationally designed insitu construction practices like filler slab
and precast
elements the construction cost of roofing can be reduced by about 20 to 25%
are
normal RCC slabs where bottom half (tension) concrete portions are replaced
by filler
materials such as bricks, tiles, cellular concrete blocks, etc., These
filler materials are
so placed as not to compromise structural strength, result in replacing
unwanted and
nonfunctional tension concrete, thus resulting in economy. These are safe,
sound
and provide aesthetically pleasing pattern ceilings and also need no plaster
are easy
to construct, save on cement and steel, are more appropriate in hot
climates. These
can be constructed using comp
ressed earth blocks also as alternative to
bricks for
further economy. provide an economic solution to RCC slab by providing 30 to
40%
cost reduction on floor/roof unit over RCC slabs without compromising the
strength.
These being precast, constructions are speedy, economical due to avoidance
of
shuttering and facilitate quality control.
The cost of finishing items like sanitary, electricity, painting etc.,
varies depending
upon the type and quality of products used in the building and its cost
reduction is
left to the individual choice and liking.The above list of suggestion for
reducing
construction cost is of general nature and it varies depending upon the
nature of the
building to be constructed, budget of the owner, geographical location where
the
house is to be constructed, availability of the building material, good
construction
management practices etc.
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