Driving Sustainability in
Social Housing
India
has witnessed different schemes and programmes to bridge the gap between
price and affordability of social housing. Social housing, here,
signifies housing which serves the housing needs of the low-income
groups with the provision of ensuring access to physical, social,
environmental and financial well-being. Currently, Rajasthan is facing a
housing shortage of 11.5 lakh dwelling units (as of 2011).
Rajasthan - Key Initiatives
The centrally enforced schemes like Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban
Renewal Mission (JNNURM) 2006 and Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) 2009 has
managed to deliver total dwelling units of 39,924 in Rajasthan (as of
2011), with JNNURM achieving 75% and RAY achieving 33% of their
respective targets. The state sponsored scheme - Mukhyamantri Jan Awas
Yojana 2015 has managed to achieve around 70% of its target. One of the
key drivers for the successful delivery of dwelling units has been the
incentives given and promotion of sustainable initiatives (like
installation of rainwater harvesting systems, use of alternative
building materials like fly ash, provision of education centres, health
cares and commercial centres within the premises if the dwelling units
are more than 250).
Kiron ki Dhani, Jaipur
Kiron ki Dhani, situated near a wholesale vegetable market called as
Muhana is well connected and located on the Jaipur - Delhi highway. This
project was undertaken under the Rajiv Awas Yojna for resettlement of
the Kiron ki Dhani slum. The community comprises of daily wage earners,
most of them working in Muhana mandi. The project was handed over 18
months ago. This social housing project comprises of 1104 dwelling units
with 100% EWS as the target group. Size of each of the dwelling units is
in alignment with government norms i.e. 328 sqft (G+2). The project has
been developed with partnership among Government of India (Centre, 50%),
Government of Rajasthan (State, 20%), Jaipur Development Authority (ULB,
20%) and Beneficiaries (10%).
Analysis through the lens of social, economic and environmental
sustainability
Social Sustainability: In terms of social infrastructure, Kiron
ki Dhani performs fairly well. It has access to water for day to day
usage due to availability of a water reservoir nearby. Every dwelling
unit has a toilet with all sanitary fittings.
However, there is no waste collection management system in place for the
complex. Other factors that hinder the social sustainability of this
housing project are the lack of provision for incremental development,
absence of commercial spaces within the development, dedicated and
developed open spaces and a parking lot.
Economic Sustainability: Kiron ki Dhani has used locally
available building materials like marble for flooring and fly ash bricks
for the walls. The cost of construction is approximately INR 1100- 1200/
Sqft.
On the flip side, no initiative was taken to access formal housing
finance institutions and thus avail credit based subsidy for the
community. The housing project lacks in terms of innovative marketing
techniques to reach customer and other business investments in and
around the area to create more employment opportunities.
Environment Sustainability: Other than the use of fly ash bricks
and solar panels for street lighting, Kiron ki Dhani housing project
lacks in terms of environment sustainability. Initiatives are seen only
in terms of compliance with building code, by laws and hazard
resilience. The project lacks in terms of creating thermally comfortable
spaces as use of concepts such as insulation, passive ventilation,
passive lighting, energy efficient appliances, suitable solid waste
management, community training for maintenance issues and waste water
management have not been used.
Conclusion
Provision of basic infrastructure like waste collection arrangements,
access to sanitation and use of alternative construction technologies
and building materials can act as catalysts to ensure the sustenance of
social housing. Poor communication and lack of training of the community
members for use of new building technologies resists the wide acceptance
of the technologies by the public. Community training for use of these
new technologies and conducting awareness programmes are key to breaking
these resistances. ■
Srijani Hazra
shazra@devalt.org
References:
1. MoHUPA, GOI, 2012. (n.d.). Report of The Technical Group On Urban
Housing Shortage (TG-12).
2. MoHUPA. (2016). Vacant Houses - Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 256.
Retrieved December 15, 2016, from http://164.100.47.190/loksabhaquestions/annex/8/AS256.pdf
3. Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of
India. (2016). Schemes and Missions. Retrieved from Ministry of Housing
and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Schemes and Missions: http://mhupa.gov.in/User_Panel/UserView.aspx?TypeID=1267
4. Census of India 2011
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