“Tribal communities are not interested in living in concrete houses. Even if the government builds one for them with a metallic roof, many of them construct small huts near the concrete houses and sleep there,” said former Chinnar Wildlife Warden PM Prabhu, who is the current Thrissur Social Forestry Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF).
Offering a solution, Prabhu says eco-compatible houses give tribal communities homes that are more natural, sustainable and adaptable to the varying elevations and climatic conditions of the forests. His eco-compatible housing model is now being introduced and implemented at the tribal colony in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala’s Idukki district.
The houses are built using hollow mud blocks called ‘kurudees’, which require very little cement. The roofs comprise clay tiles supported by an iron framework.
According to Praveen P Mohandas, the architect of the eco-compatible houses, forest-dwelling communities build their houses using locally available raw materials. “These communities usually build houses using mud and bamboo, to suit the varying weather conditions,” he pointed out.
Most of the ethnic colonies in Chinnar are in dry areas and have to withstand extreme weather conditions. The Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary has 11 tribal colonies that live at different elevations, from an altitude of 500 m (Champakkad) to 1,200 m (Mangappara).
The Champakkad area is hot and humid most of the year and the colonies here are located in the rain shadow region (the dry areas on the side of a mountain that are protected from the wind). But colonies like Ollavayal, Mangappara and Vellakkal are located at higher elevations and the climate is comparatively cool most of the year. So, the eco-compatible housing method is more effective in the region, said the official.
“On a trial basis, we constructed an eco-compatible house and handed it over to a resident named Gopalan. The construction work of the other three houses is underway. The houses are being constructed using funds from the Department of Environment and Climate Change,” Prabhu said.
Each house is constructed at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh. It consists of one bedroom, a hall and a kitchen. Since tribals do not have toilets inside the home, these will be built in other areas.
Prabhu also said he has submitted a report to the Forest Department on how the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies (KIRTADS) of Scheduled Castes and Tribes can adopt this method of constructing houses for their future projects.