Background
Cyclone Amphan has inflicted large scale devastations across the state of West Bengal. The worst affected amongst the districts in West Bengal are South and North 24 Parganas which include the Coastal belts along the Sundarbans Delta and adjacent areas. A preliminary estimate as published by the Government of West Bengal indicated that approximately 10 lakh dwellings were affected. The choice of the word “Dwellings” perhaps reveals a sad reality of the lack of basic housing facility for millions of people in our state. These people continue to live in fragile huts and thatched houses popularly referred to as “Kancha Bari”. While Amphan has caused devastation on an unprecedented scale, these dwellings have always suffered the maximum brunt of various natural disasters in the past including floods and excessive rainfall.
Jadavpur University under its Community Outreach Programme has undertaken a proposal in association with its alumni to address this basic problem of Housing for these underprivileged people. The proposal also covers a holistic development programme at individual villages that addresses other basic needs such as:
- Sustainable Housing
- Safe Drinking Water & Sanitation
- Access to Rural Health Network
- Self Help Group Creation for Livelihood
Christened “CHHAD”, this programme was originally conceptualised by the batch of ‘91, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, Jadavpur University and further developed with help from Jadavpur University. It aims at creating a scalable and sustainable model as opposed to a one-time donation to relief funds so that the root cause of the problem can be addressed proactively and for good.
It will be pertinent here to mention that several community kitchens and temporary shelters were organised by the students and faculty of the University under the Community Outreach Programme in various Amphan affected areas. Project CHHAD is a step forward in the same direction to create a long term impact.
Target
CHHAD aims at providing at least 500 houses of concrete structure (Pukka House) in the next two years. In subsequent years, the number is likely to grow depending on the success of Phase 1. The First 500 houses are most likely to be spread across approximately 50 villages (assuming each village will get 10 houses on average).
What Constitutes a Pukka House?
A pukka house under the CHAAD programme will comprise one Living Room Cum Bedroom along with one Kitchen & one Toilet. The house will be built with RCC structure and concrete casting roof. The key aspect of the design would focus on withstanding high wind speed and excessive rainfall. It is assumed that the beneficiary of the program will own the land.
