Build with Cost Effective and Environment Friendly Technologies

TARA Nirman Kendra. New Delhi and Orchha

The building arm of Development Alternatives, New Delhi

The construction sector In India as well as in most other developing countries is witnessing an upsurge, primarily due to good fiscal policies of the respective Governments ,but also due to increasing  populations demanding infrastructure and shelter. The need has been accentuated further by the growth of the rural economy and the renewed interest of the Government in providing infrastructural facilities for sustained economic development. Major natural disasters in the last couple of years have also contributed to the demand on the construction industry.

Paving blocks with customised partners and designs	Compressed earth blocks and tiles made with TARA Balram	Concrete blocks - solid and hollow	A Conference facility at TARAgram with compressed earth blocks and micro concrete roofing tiles

Construction,  be it for infrastructure or for housing, utilizes basic raw materials like bricks, cement, sand, aggregates, steel etc. The increased demand for the basic raw materials has stressed the natural availability of such materials and has led to a situation where not only have costs gone up drastically due to the increase in demand, but the environment has been greatly affected due to the use of unsustainable exploitation processes, both in the extraction and manufacturing of these raw materials. The construction sector, apart from contributing significantly to the national economy, is one of the primary contributors to green house gases in our country.

So while we shall continue to require more bricks, more cement, more sand , more steel etc to build, the natural resource base is but finite and unless practices are adopted that use these finite materials in a judicious and therefore sustainable way, we shall not only have degraded our environment but will also  have exhausted our natural base for such materials. The only way out of this scenario is to use technologies that recognize the elements of sustainability of the basic raw materials and equate it judiciously with the need or the efficacy in meeting the requirement of that particular material.

The construction sector (with emphasis on Housing, institutional buildings and other such requirements) offers immense potential with regards to adopting sustainable practices as tremendous advancement has been made in terms of technology that not only addresses the issue of rising costs but also that of material efficiency. A lot of information and knowledge is now available that can be justifiably used to meet the increased demand for construction of buildings by using technologies and techniques that are not only cost effective but also environment-friendly.

TARA Nirman Kendra’s ( TNK ), one each at New Delhi and Orcha ( M. P ) were set up primarily to address the issue of sustainable practices in construction, under the parentage of Development Alternatives. The TARA Nirman Kendras are registered as Societies under the Societies registration act of 1860, and were registered in the year 1989.

In the last fourteen years of its existence, the TARA Nirman Kendras have contributed in large measures to promoting the use of cost effective environment-friendly construction technologies through direct  and indirect interventions in different parts of the country. A number of technologies and techniques have been developed in-house, while others have been adopted , while a few have also been adapted to meet specific contextual requirements. TNK has successfully executed projects  in diverse socio –economic ,cultural and geographic contexts as in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar , Orissa, Gujarat, Maharastra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh. So whether it was a large reconstruction project in Orissa and Gujarat or Institutional buildings in Chandigarh, farm houses in Delhi, rural houses in MP etc., TNK has been able to establish itself as a creditable entity offering quality services with a high degree of professionalism and commitment.

TARA Nirman Kendra seeks to grow and contribute significantly to the overall mission of  the Development Alternatives Group. In order to achieve growth (top and bottom) and outreach, revenue and positional objectives have been set; business structures have been redesigned; and management as well as organizational systems have been altered to meet  market expectations. The overall business of the TNKs at Orcha and New Delhi , have been structured along three distinct lines of business. These are:

Micro-Concrete Roofing Tiles	Mechanised production of Ferrocement Roofing Channels	A unit for making paper products, compressed earth blocks and ferrocement roofing channels	A canteen building with concrete blocks and ferrocement roofing channels

The Products offered under the different Business Lines meet the requirements of a wide range of clients in diverse social and economic conditions. Special emphasis has been  placed on addressing the needs of the rural poor and organizations and institutions committed to promote sustainability issues. So whether it is the villager requiring a roofing tile, a small NGO desirous of developing a project proposal, an individual or an institution or a government body wanting to do a housing project, corporates wishing to adopt sustainable practices in their construction requirements etc., the TARA Nirman  Kendras are well equipped with the capacity and experience to deliver quality solutions.    q