About Sabarkantha
23° 46' 0" North, 73° 15' 0" East
According to India 2011 census, Sabarkanth <external link> has a population of 2.4 Million residents approximately. Predominantly categorized as a Tribal district covering 75% of the land area, now the region is seeing a rapid development and change in lifestyle.
Tasks
In purview of the Mason Academy and local assistance available to us community of Village Malasa, Taluka Bhiloda, District Sabarkantha, Gujarat, we find ourselves in a position to undertake the following tasks:
- Need assessment and mapping
- Identifying region specific building technologies and crafts for creating skills and resource database
- Documenting above through photographs and sketches, interviews and questionnaire forms
- Linking of existing resource and market pool; local and external
Identified Masons / Crafts persons
| S.No. | Name | Contact | Skill Code | Age | Work experience | Remarks |
| 1 | Bhagvanji Kesariyaji | Post: Taluka Paglaji, District Udaipur, Rajasthan, India | STR/STC/STFO | 32 years | 18 years | - Present
Annual Income is Rs. 120,000. Will be
interested in teaching if sustaining opportunity and income. - His present contractor Shri Kantilal from Idar can be useful for mobilization |
| 2 | Ratna bhai Singh Dodiyar | Post:
Vil. Silasan, Tal. Bhiloda, Dist. Sabarkantha, Gujarat, India Mob. (0)9913816935 pp Ishwarbhai for Mobilization |
CRM/CRO | 60 years | 50 years | -
Will teach with hands on house building opportunity - Ishwarbhai, from village Malsa Mob. (0)9913816935 can help with Mobilization |
Housing Type
Four distinct types of house forms are observed:
- Plastered, Brick and Concrete construction, G+1 and G+2, Flat roof and terrace
- Plastered, Brick construction, Single storey, Pitched roofs: corrugated sheets and/or roof tiles
- Exposed walls, single storey Brick construction, Pitched roofs: corrugated sheets and/or roof tiles
- Mud/cement plastered, single storey Rammed earth Construction, Pitched roofs: roof tiles
There is an apparent absence of a
vernacular house type except in the tribal regions of the district,
one such region being a settlement near Malasa, a village called Silasan. All
the houses (except two) were built using coursed rammed earth in its most
rudimentary form.
Manpower involved with Mainstream Construction and Housing
The construction industry in Malasa employs skilled labourers, who are primarily migrants from Rajasthan. The unskilled labourers are usually from the tribal regions around Malasa. Similar to other parts of India, the construction industry is largely unorganized and unplanned and purely need based. Most of the houses are constructed by the owner with the help of small-time contractor teams from nearby towns of Idar or Prantij subject to availability of funds.
Potters in Malasa village
There are 65 potter families (out of 300) in Malasa who moved here 4 generations back from Patan, North Gujarat. Many of them seem to be continuing the trade solely as a means of sustenance, and do not impose the same on their children, who wish to move out to find jobs in neighboring towns. The potters in Malasa use clay brought in from Shamlaji for Rs 1500 per tractor-load. They make approximately 30 pots a day using wooden or iron potters wheels, which are then sun dried and fired the next day. Regular pots are sold for Rs 30 and large pots are sold for Rs 100 to wholesalers who transport them to Ahmedabad. There is no distinctive quality about their way of working or the product itself, which is simple and purely utilitarian.
Rammed Earth Construction
observed in Malasa and Silasan, typical forest/tribal settlements in the district, employs three to four people at a time and a house is completed in near-about twenty days. Mud Houses are referred to as kaccha construction as compared to the pukka or more durable brick and concrete construction. The durability of the mud houses as told by the homeowners ranged from a little under a year to 10 years, with varying amounts of maintenance.
Rammed earth construction involves filling and compacting wet mud and a small percentage of coarse aggregate into a mould of appropriate size for the walls. The thickness of the wall decreases from approx 2 ft at the base to 1ft at the top. The roofs are made from forest wood and locally made roof tiles. The walls are plastered either with cement slurry or mud, husk and cow dung.
Photo Tour
<links to Picasa Google>
Acknowledgements
Inputs and visits by- Ms. Ashwini Ashok Kumar, Mr. Aditya Bhatt, Mr. Chandra Bhakuni, Bhavin
Local NGO support (tentative)
Mr. K. B. Panhcal [Kanubhai]
Jan Kalyan Trust
Near Civil Hospital, Near Gayatri Building works,
Shyamlaji, Tal. Bhiloda, Dist. Sabarkantha, Gujarat, India
We are thankful to the family of Shri LalSingh HimmatSingh Chauhan at Village Malasa, Bhiloda Taluka, for support with local logistics and hosting our stay.
