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Letters To The Editor
Dick Meier, City & Regional Planning, University of
California
Sir - I would like to react to your newsletter issue of
April ‘94. In the mid-1950s I undertook an assessment of pressures for
urbanization in the developing world. India then had the best data, so it
received the most attention. It then appeared that the Delhi conurbation
would reach a population of 30-50 million, and then suffer from droughts so
server, due to the natural variability of rainfall, there would be large
numbers of drought and famine refugees moving to areas that were more green.
One of our graduates in planning then was appointed to one of the first of the
World Bank’s infrastructure appraisal teams, so I wrote to him to say it was
his professional duty as a planner to find water for the future of Delhi,
because India needed a functioning capital city.
He replied almost a year later that he had found the water, but unfortunately
it was separated by one or two political boundaries, so (given Indian
propensities) no one could depend upon supplies from those sources. The same
future applied to energy supplies, but fortunately they were not strictly
limited to hydel from the upper watershed.
Transport, squatting, schools, and many other problems could be expected. At
that time, however, it was not possible to foresee the rise of the NGOs to
cope with many issues in urban settlements, particularly those led by women
for introducing community services for improvement of quality of life. If a
slum is to be regarded as a “school of hard knocks”, the NGOs have assured
that there would be many more competent graduates seasoned by adversity.
Mallika
Sarabhai, Ahmedabad
Sir - We, at the Darpana Academy, are concerned about the pillage of the
earth, pollution of rivers and devastation of forests, of foliage, of
medicinal plants, of wildlife and many other problems of environment. For 30
years, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Director of the Academy, has created social and
environmental awareness in the country through dance, drama and puppetry. A
separate wing has been created called Darpana for Development which will deal
exclusively with the problems of humanity in a world-wide perspective. Some
of our productions include:
Dance
Aspirations : on destruction of the Silent Valley in Kerala
Revelation : on smoke and noise pollution in cities
Surya : on solar energy
Ganga : on water pollution
Drama
Vruksha: a satire on human relationships
So Sawal Ek Jawab : on exploitation of animals and nature by man
Panchayatan: an environment education programme using all forms of performing
arts
Puppetry
Just Think : on pollution
The bounty of a tree: on tree preservation
Last year’s productions dealt with social problems, forest destruction,
industrial pollution, displacement of tribal culture and other development
issues. Darpana welcomes response from NGOs
interested in special performances, or video film production.
Dr. Dieter
Klein
ARTES, Glucksburg (Germany)
Sir - May I congratulate you on a fine Shelter issue. I find your newsletter
has an interesting mix of articles. I particularly liked the articles on Lok
Jumbish and Shelter and Sustainable Development. They were very up-to-date to
what is being discussed by the ecological building movement in Germany. Like
you in India, we will have to change policies and come to a more people
oriented way of building houses. Only if there is “guided self-construction”,
where people are assisted to build, the majority will be able to have their
own houses.
Kalyan Paul, Himalayan Grassroots
Development Foundation, Ranikhet
Sir - Many thanks for arranging the
demonstration-cum-training of Microlite Roofing Tiles. Both the roofs
installed at the end of the training period have withstood the tennis-ball
sized hailstones which hurled down for four hours last weekend! There is
quite a bit of interest generated in several quarters about these tiles and it
would be within the limits of prudence to predict the scope of a viable micro
enterprise around microlite tile production in the hills.
Swapna
Sundaram & Reshma Singh
New Delhi
Sir - We would like
to share our feelings with you on earth architecture
What On Earth:
Mud Brick In The
Wall?
Have you seen it
Have you heard
About the new material
And the new word?
It’s all over the city
About it’s strength, cost-efficiency, durability
When it comes down to the nitty-gritty,
There’s nothing like our friendly, neighbourhood ‘mitti’
With the population explosion
And the fast-rising inflation
What is needed by the houses of our nation,
Is a full-scale mud operation.
We don’t need no education
Just a little bit of inspiration
For joy, hope, dream, verisimilitude
Golden-brown, cool-smelling pulchritude.
Heard the mud witch foretell
About our future course, arch, corbel?
Don’t need much for beautiful splendour,
Divine dirt, gorgeous grandeur.
Imagine, with your own hand
Creating magic out of straw and sand
Lost, though our Indian tradition.
We’ll rediscover it in our generation.
Be it Africa, Asia, America,
Adobe, earth bricks, soil-cement,terracotta,
Know pise’, kachcha, chika and cob,
Create tapia, capon, the wattle and daub.
Cheap, readily available, excellent insulation,
Good walls, widely used, strong in compression
Made better by techniques of structure,
Stabilized soil for ‘down-to-earth’ architecture.
However, ‘tis easily eroded by water,
Access for thieves, for rodents - tasty mortar!
Doesn’t grip wood, tough to make roofs,
Too many cracks and it goes ‘proof
Yet, no sophisticated equipment, familiar
techniques,
Less energy required, pleasing aesthetics
Labour-intensive, local people,
Climatically suited, easy to assemble.
A magnificent monolithic Thor,
Enraptured sighs, astonished uproar!
It has arrived, it is now, it is everywhere,
Suntanned beauties out of raunchy terre!
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