DISSERTATION Reviving socio economic conditions of Indian villages by architecture and planning
Name : Shaheed Iqubal Guide: Parul Kiri Roy Coordinator:Mekhla Parihar
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am greatly indebted to my guide Mrs. Parul Kiri Roy for her guidance and encouragement throughout my dissertation. I am grateful for her patience in making me properly oriented in my topic of research. I would like to thank my coordinators Prof.Mekhla Parihar, Prof Jaya Kumar. Prof Shuvojit Sarcar and Prof Arpita Dayal for helping out to a new level of understanding and Organization in writing my dissertation and also for their useful suggestions and timely help. My sincere thanks to the residents of Punsari village, particularly to the Pradhan of the village, Himanshu Patel I am most thankful to my friends Sashank I V and Misho Harsh for their wonderful support in the times I need. My sincere thanks to Prof Henri Fanthome and Prof Usma Ali for helping me. Thanks to all the scholars for providing me immense help with the same and lastly me due thanks to all the people and staff of various institutions and organizations visited during the course of study.
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DECLARATION The research work embodied in this dissertation titled “Reviving socio economic conditions on Indian villages by architecture and planning� has been carried out by the undersigned as part of the undergraduate Dissertation program in the Department of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, under the supervision of Mrs. Parul Kiri Roy. The undersigned hereby declares that this is his/her original work and has not been plagiarized in part or full form from any source.
Shaheed Iqual M M A/2602/2013
(Signature of student)
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(Signature of guide)
ABSTRACT India is a country where majority of its citizens live in villages. But we can see that most of the development and capital of the government gets only spent in the few cities that our country have. This lack of proper infrastructure in the villages led to mass migration of people to the cities. Traditionally villages in India have always been sustainable .But right now the condition of many villages In the country is vulnerable But villages in India have socially always had many negativities, which in the cities are comparatively low. One is lack of heterogeneity and the other is caste system. When we consider the development of a village, we can’t consider the single aspect of it. All aspects like social, economical , educational and ecological aspects are all linked together. So development in a village should be holistic rather than targeting in just one of them In this dissertation, by studying and comparing the development strategies used in two villages which are socially, geographically and economically different conditions in India .We will see how architecture and planning has played a part in that.
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CONTENT Acknowledgement
1
Declaration
2
Abstract
3
Content
4
List of figures
8
Chapter 1: Introduction
11
1.1 Topic
11
1.2 Research question
11
1.3 Aim
11
1.4 Objective
11
1.5 Scope
12
1.6 Limitations
12
1.7 Research Methodology
13
1.8 Defining Rural
13
1.9 Defining Development
14
Chapter 2: Indian Villages –Different Perspectives
15
2.1 Gandhi on Indian villages
15
2.2 Nehru on Indian villages
17
2.3 Ambedkar on Indian villages
18
2.4 Abdul Kalam on Indian villages
20
2.4.1 PURA ( Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas) 2.5 Strength and weaknesses of Indian villages 4|P a g e
20 21
Chapter 3: Laurie baker and design of community spaces
21
3.1 Prototype design for community spaces in villages
22
Chapter 4: Modal village
23
Chapter 5: Case studies
24
5.1 Punsari village, Gujrat
24
5.1.1 Introduction
24
5.1.2 Village before rural development
24
5.1.3 Village after rural development
25
5.1.4 Architectural strategies by the panchayat for rural development
26
5.1.4.1 Waste to energy plant
26
5.1.4.2Education
27
5.1.4.3 From no electricity to internet, wi fi connectivity and banking
27
5.1.4.4 Skill development centre
28
5.1.4.5 Women empowerment
28
5.1.4.6 Houses
29
5.1.5 Planning strategies by the panchayat for rural development
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30
5.2 Kumbalangi , Kerala
32
5.2.1 Introduction
33
5.2.1.1 Geographical boundaries
33
5.2.1.2 Transportation
33
5.2.1.3 Altitude
33
5.2.1.4 Climate and rainfall
34
5.2.1.5 People in the village
34
5.2.1.6 Flora and Fauna
34
5.2.1.7 Medical facilities in the panchayat
34
5.2.2 Village before rural development
35
5.2.3 Village after rural development
35
5.2.4 Architectural strategies by panchayat for rural development
36
5.2.4.1Park
37
5.2.4.2 Pokkali Farm
37
5.2.4.3 Nature walks
38
5.2.4.4 Chineese fishing nets
38
5.2.4.5 Prawn and crab farms
39
5.2.4.6 Kopra making units
39
5.2.4.7 Fish pond
40
5.2.4.8 Tourism fest
40
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5.2.4.9 Historical sites
41
5.2.4.10 Accommodation facilities
42
5.2.5 Planning strategies for rural development
43
5.3 Comparison (Punsari and Kumbalangi) development strategies
44
Chapter 5: Conclusion and analysis
45
5.1 Rural Development is location specific
45
5.2 Community architecture
45
5.3 Need for community spaces
45
5.4 Questioning the need of development
46
Bibliography
47
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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Prototype Design Of A Community Space In 1 Acre Land(Source: Laurie Baker, Rural Community Buildings,1992 ) Figure 2: Prototype Designs For A Community Space In 1/2 Acre Plot(Source: Laurie Baker, Rural Community Buildings,1992 ) Figure 3: Prototype Design For A Community Space In 1/2 Acre Plot(Source: Laurie Baker, Rural Community Buildings,1992 ) Figure 4 :What All Constitutes A Model Village (Source: Www.Swaniti.In) Figure 5:Waste To Electricity Plant In Punsari Village (Source: Author) Figure 6 :Anganwadi (Source: Author) Figure 7 : Primary School(Source: Author) Figure 8 :Sbi Bank With Atm( Source: Author) Figure 9:Skill Development Centre (Source: Author) Figure 10:Women Training Themselves In Shg (Source: Author) Figure 11: A Shop Owned By An Old Lady In Punsari (Source: Author) Figure 12: A House In The Village (Source : Author ) Figure 13: Map Of India Showing Gujrat(Source: Author) Figure 14: Map Of Gujrat (Source :Wikipedia) Figure 15: A Map Showing Punsari Village Along With Its Farm Lands (Source: Author) Figure 16: Map Of Punsari (Source :Author) Figure 18: Map Of India Showing Kerala (Source :Author)
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Figure 19: Map Of Kerala(Source: Wikipedia) Figure 20: Map Of Ernakulam District Showing Kumbalangi (Source: Www.Kumbalangipanchayat.Com) Figure 21: A Sketch Map Of Kumbalangi Village (Source : Www.Kumbalangipanchayat.Com) Figure 22: Park In Kumbalangi (Source: Www.Skyscrapercity.Com) Figure 23: A View Of Seating In The Park Facing The Chineese Fishing Nets In The Backwaters (Source: Www.Skyscrapercity.Com) Figure 24: Chineese Fishing Nets (Source : Www.Kumbalangipanchayat.Com) Figure 25: Kopra Making Unit In Kumbalangi(Source: Www.Kumbalangipanchayat.Com) Figure 26: Illikal Ardhanareeswari Temple (Source: Wikipedia) Figure 27: St George Church (Source :Wikipedia) Figure 28: Kumbalangi Methanam Resort (Source: Www.Metanam.Com) Figure 29: An Ancient House Converted To Home Stay (Source: Www.Kumbalangipanchayat.Com) Figure 30: Map Of Kumbalangi Showing Major Road Farms And The Part (Source: Author)
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TOPIC: Reviving socio economic conditions on Indian villages by architecture and planning
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Topic Reviving socio economic conditions on Indian villages by architecture and planning
1.2 Research question How to improve the socio economic conditions of the villages by using architecture and planning as a tool and to find out different approaches to the same and to compare and analyze them ?
1.3 Aim To understand the different methods taken to improve the socio economic conditions of villages in India , using architecture and planning as a tool.
1.4 Objective
To understand the definition of ‘rural’
To question the binary of ‘rural’ and ‘urban’
To understand and formulate the idea of ‘development’ in a rural Indian context
To find different methods used to improve the socio economic conditions of rural India
To find how different development policies are formulated architecturally in a village
To find the development strategies are site dependent
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1.5 Scope
This study will help in questioning the conventional ideas of what ‘rural’ and ‘development’ should be.
The study is based on the villages in India only
The villages are not looked in a single lens. I want to acknowledge the geographical and socio cultural differences of different types of villages in the country
To understand different theories formulated by Indian philosophers about villages their views on it and to critically examine them.
1.6 Limitations
The time that can be given for primary case study is only 5 days. So only one village can be covered in primary case study
We are not giving too much emphasis on the written manifestos unless they are architecturally translated
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1.7 Research Methodology Readings
1. Readings on Indian villages by Ambedkar, Ghandhi and Nehru and the critical analysis of their works 2.Readings on rural architecture by Laurie baker case studies primary and secondary case studies are done on villages like 
Punsari, Gujrat

Kumbalangi , Kerala
Analysis are done after the study and we will learn the different approaches done on each villages and how each approach is specific to the village. We will understand how the villagers found out the strength and weakness of their village.
1.8 Defining 'rural' A single definition for rural does not exists. The definition broadly depends on the country, culture, geography and other social stereotype. However, according to Indian government the definition of Rural is as follows "The "rural sector" means any place as per the "latest census (External website that opens in a new window)" which meets the following criteria, A population of less than 5,000 ,Density of population less than 400 per sq km and more than "25 per cent of the male working population" is engaged in agricultural pursuits." but as we read through we can find that the definition itself is highly stereotypical and biased so that the idea of rural is put up in an confined box out of which it cannot escape. The definition itself is gender and occupation bound.
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1.9 Defining development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of land-intensive natural resources such as agriculture and forestry. However, changes in global production networks and increased urbanization have changed the character of rural areas. Increasingly tourism, niche manufacturers, and recreation have replaced resource extraction and agriculture as dominant economic drivers. The need for rural communities to approach development from a wider perspective has created more focus on a broad range of development goals rather than merely creating incentive for agricultural or resource based businesses. Education, entrepreneurship, physical infrastructure, and social infrastructure all play an important role in developing rural regions. Rural development is also characterized by its emphasis on locally produced economic development strategies. In contrast to urban regions, which have many similarities, rural areas are highly distinctive from one another. For this reason there are a large variety of rural development approaches used globally. Development is not urbanization and rural is not agrarian.
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Chapter 2: Indian Villages –Different Perspectives 2.1 Gandhi on Indian villages "My idea of village swaraj is that it is completely republic, independent of its neighbors for its own vital wants, and yet interdependent for many others in which dependence is a necessity. Thus every villager's first concern will be to grow its own food crops and cotton for its cloth...Then if there is more land available, it will grow useful money crops, thus excluding ganja, tobacco, opium and the like...Education will be compulsory up to the final basic course. As far as possible, every activity will be conducted on the cooperative basis. There will be no castes such as we have today with their graded untouchability...The government of the village will be conducted by a panchayat of five persons annually elected by the adult villagers, male and female, possessing minimum prescribed qualifications. .. To model such a village may be the work of a lifetime. Any lover of true democracy and village life can take up a village, treat it as his world and sole work, and he will find good results."(Ghandi,1942) Gandhi is a person who celebrated Indian village life like no one else. But he was a person who was not born in a village and did not even have an 'ancestral village' to identify with. Even then, most of his political philosophy revolved around the idea of village. He believed that village life represented the essence of India; the development of modern cities in India symbolized western domination and colonial rule. Village is a place of authenticity, the 'real/pure India’, a place that at least in its design, had not yet been corrupted by western influence. The city was its opposite, very western In a letter addressed to Lord Ampthill in 1909. he wrote: "To me the rise of cities like Calcutta and Bombay is a matter for sorrow rather than congratulation. India has lost in having broken up a part of her village system"
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He elaborated it further in Young India in 1921: "Our cities are not India. India lives in her seven and a half lakhs of villages, and the cities live upon the villages. They do not bring their wealth from other countries. The city people are brokers and commission agents for the big houses of Europe, America and Japan. The cities have coop erated with the latter in the bleeding process that has gone on for the past two hundred years " A village, for Gandhi, had a design, a way of life, which had a potential of becoming an alternative to the city based, and technology driven west. He supported village industries like local handicrafts and cotton he was against the idea of mass production, which takes away the individuality of product and thus our culture "The village civilization and the city civilization are totally different things. One depends on machinery and industrialization, the other rests on handicrafts. We have given preference to the latter. After all, this industrialization and large-scale production are only of comparatively recent growth. We do not know how far it has contributed to our development and happiness, but we know this much that it has brought in its wake the recent world wars... Our country was never so unhappy and miserable as it is at present. In the cities people may be getting big profits and good wages, but all that has become possible by sucking the blood of villagers "[Gandhi,1942] Even if he asked for the revival of traditional Indian village life he also addressed some flaws within it. Two things, which he commented quite frequently, were the practice of untouchability and general lack of cleanliness.
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2.2 Nehru on Indian villages "...the old Indian social structure which has so powerfully influenced our people...was based on three concepts: the autonomous village community; caste; and the joint family system" [Nehru 1946] Nehru discussed about traditional Indian society in his book Discovery of India. Nehru says in accordance with the above extract that in all the tree concepts mentioned it is the group that counts , not the individual. The individual is given a secondary place. He says that there isn't anything unique with this concepts. You can find something equivalent to these three in any other countries, especially in medieval times. "...The functions of each group or caste were related to functions of the other castes, and the idea was that if each group functioned successfully within its own frame work, then society as a whole worked harmoniously. Over and above this, a strong and fairly successful attempt was made to create a common national bond which would hold all these groups together - the sense of a common culture, common traditions, common heroes and saints, and common land to the four corners of which people went on pilgrimage. This national bond was of course very different from present-day nationalism; it was weak politically, but socially and culturally it was strong" [Nehru,1946]. Nehru did not celebrate the old 'village republics' as Gandhi did. He emphasized that these villages are marked with various ills like caste systems. The traditional social structure gave importance to ‘the duties of the individual and the group' and not 'their rights’. In 'Discovery of India’, he says that the weakness or failure of the Indian caste system and Indian social structure is that they degraded a mass of human beings and gave them no opportunity to get out of that condition- educationally, culturally or economically. According to him caste system is incompatible, reactionary, restrictive and barriers to progress. There is no equality and opportunity within this framework, nor there can be political democracy or economic democracy [Nehru, 1946]
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In case of Gandhi he spoke about the village in a populist language, in terms of village as a unit with an underlying assumption about the unity of its interests. While Nehru recognized the internal differences in the rural society , the contradictions between the landlord and the peasantry. Similarly, while Gandhi talked bout reviving the spirit of village life, Nehru wanted to transform the village social and economic structure by using modern technology and changing agrarian relations. Nehru believed that the industrial development and urbanization would help in reducing the burden on land and therefore would be good even for those who would be left in the village. He said agriculture can produce wealth but it can produce more wealth when more people are drawn from agriculture and put into industry. In order to improve agriculture we should improve the industry. For him both are allied to each other. He criticized traditional farmers for 'using outdated methods' and for being 'content with whatever little they produced’. He did share with Gandhi the need for revival of handicrafts and cottage industry.
2.3 Ambedkar on Indian village Ambedkar unlike Gandhi or Nehru was the person who had a firsthand experience of village life and that too from a grass root point of view, as a dalit child. Even if his father was a mobile dalit who was employed in a 'secular' occupation Ambedkar could not escape the difficulties of his caste and class background during his childhood. Ambedkar's view on village can be said as a dalitist view of a village. "The Hindu society insists on segregation of the untouchables. The Hindu will not live in the quarters of the untouchables and will not allow the untouchables to live inside Hindu quarters... It is not a case of social separation, a mere stoppage of social intercourse for a temporary period. It is a case of territorial segregation and of a cordon sanitaire putting the impure people inside the barbed wire into a sort of a cage. Every Hindu village has a ghetto. The Hindus live in the village and the untouchables live in the ghetto" [Ambedkar ,1948] Thus for Ambedkar , village presented a model of the Hindu social organization. The Indian village, for him, did not include the untouchables , who lived outside , in the 'ghetto'. 18 | P a g e
The Indian village was not a single unit. It was divided into two sets of populations, 'touchables' and 'untouchables'. The 'touchables' lived inside the village and the 'untouchables' lived outside the village in separate quarters. The economically dominant community were the touchable and thus commanded power. The untouchables were dependent community and a subject race of hereditary bondsmen. The untouchables lived their lives according to the codes and guidelines made by the touchable regarding their habitations, the distance they should maintain from the 'Hindus', the dress they should wear, the houses they should live in, the language they should speak , the names they should keep. They could not build houses having tiled roofs . For those who wanted village to be treated as the basic unit of Indian civilization, he had said: " I hold that these village republics have been the ruination of India...What is the village but a sink of localism, a den of ignorance, narrow-mindedness and communalism? An average Hindu was always in ecstasy whenever he spoke of the Indian village. He regarded it as an ideal form of social organization to which he believed there was no parallel anywhere in the world. But the realistic picture of village was very different. According to Ambedkar, the governing structure of the village was no way close to democracy. The village life was marked by experiences of exclusion , exploitation and untouchability. The untouchables were also excluded from most of the village festivals. "This is the village republic of which the Hindus are so proud. What is the position of the untouchables in this Republic'? They are not merely the last but are also the least...in this Republic there is no place for democracy. There is no room for equality. There is no room for liberty and there is no room for fraternity. The Indian village is a very negation of Republic. The republic is an Empire of the Hindus over the untouchables. It is a kind of colonial ism of the Hindus designed to exploit the untouchables. The untouchables have no rights...They have no rights because they are outside the village republic and be cause they are outside the so-called village republic, they are outside the Hindu fold " [Ambedkar ,1948]
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2.4 Abdul Kalam on Indian villages PURA ( Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas) according to the pura (providing of urban amenities to rural area) project which is visionary of late mr. a. p. j. abdul kalam (ex-president of India), a concept of smart villages was born. the project had a simple aim of providing basic amenities like infrastructure, education, awareness, technology and many more. the objective of the mission is to improve the economic, social and infrastructural development in the rural areas. this can be achieved in three ways: • improving the life of people of the rural clusters • bridging the rural-urban divide • reducing distress migration from rural to urban areas in order to provide these amenities technologies like gis(geographic information system ) can be very helpful where mapping the existing scenario, land use and data from other types of surveys can be put into the software to analyze the situation for implementation of the project (which is provision of basic amenities). gis can act as an important factor in analyzing the situation which can ultimately help in decision making, for instance; spending the local body funds in providing priority basic amenity according to the needs of the people like water may be more crucial than providing wider roads for future predicted increased traffic.
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2.5 Strength and weakness of Indian villages The strength of Indian villages are mainly ecological. The air is much cleaner compared to cities. Indian villages usually use sustainable materials for construction and also for their food. When we think sociologically we can see that in villages your heritage , family and caste is a difficult thing to escape from. If any socio-economic betterment should happen in a village it should happen as a community. The sense of community is the best and worst thing about Indian villages. A village doesn’t consist of a single community. There are different community which exists where one community exerts social and economic dominance over others.Other social taboos like gender segregation and sexism is very common in Indian villages. Women like dalits are far away from all the developments which happen in the village.We can also see that all of the development and capital from the government is centralized over the few cities India have and thus because of economic factors we can find that there is a huge amount of migration from rural to urban areas. There is a very critical need for decentralizing development and capital.
Chapter 3: Laurie baker and design of community spaces Laurie Baker is a British born Indian architect. He practiced mostly in the Trivandrum district of Kerala state in India. He was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies and tried to translate them architecturally and succeeded. He is known for sustainable, organic, cost effective and energy efficient architecture which helped in holistic development of an individual and communityHe has come up with design strategies or prototypes, which helps to make community spaces in one or half an acre of land in a village and can help in community development. This community space included all the minimum requirements a village needed for development like school, anganwadi, library, bank, multipurpose hall, hotel and health care unit.One of the example by Laurie Baker in designing community spaces is in fisherman’s village, Poonthura, Trivandrum
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3.1PROTOTYPE DESIGNS FOR COMMUNITY SPACES IN A VILLAGE
FIGURE
1: PROTOTYPE DESIGN OF A COMMUNITY SPACE IN 1 ACRE
LAND ( LAURIE BAKER, RURAL COMMUNITY BUILDINGS ,1992 )
22 | P a g e F IGURE 2 P ROTOTYPE DESIGNS FOR A COMMUNITY SPACE IN 1/2 ACRE PLOT ( LAURIE BAKER, RURAL COMMUNITY BUILDINGS ,1992 )
F IGURE 3 PROTOTYPE DESIGN FOR A COMMUNITY SPACE IN 1/2 ACRE PLOT ( LAURIE BAKER, RURAL COMMUNITY BUILDINGS ,1992 )
Chapter 4: Model village
F IGURE 4 : WHAT ALL CONSTITUTES A MODEL VILLAGE ( WWW. SWANITI. IN)
The main objective of a model village includes
The development should lead to decent standard of living for the inhabitants ,thus preventing the people from migrating from rural to urban areas
The idea of model village doesn’t stands of its own. Every villages in vicinity should be connected physically or economically if needed
Social development of the village by including all the sections of the society in the rural development
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Chapter 5: Case Studies We are doing a case study on two different villages in Indian in every aspects, socially, economically , culturally and geographically. And we will see how was the village before the rural development strategy , considering its both positives and negatives , has used its positives and removed its negatives strategically .By this we will understand the strategies each villages developed and how they are implemented architecturally and how both are similar or different from each other considering the differences in the village typologies
Primary case study 5.1Punsari village, Gujrat 5.1.1 Introduction Punsari is situated at Sabarkantha Himmatnagar, 85 km from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It has a populace of 6000 individuals (2015) which was then 5100 (2011), having 23 groups living of significantly comprising of Thakor People group took after by Patels, Brahmin, and so on. Of Around 98% of the populace take part in agrarian exercises and rest 2% are either possessed with work exercises or having their own shops and so on. In the previous couple of years, there is 0% movement in the town and around 10 families have been Re – moved to Punsari. The gram panchayat had spent around 12-13 crores for the advancement of the town and that to with utilizing govt. plans and from the incomes just, the gram panchayat have zero financing from NRI/NGO/CSR. The income of village is approx. Rs. 5.50 – Rs.6 .It is additionally observed that those families who are occupied with farming exercises are having a decent way of life when contrasted with that the individuals who are occupied with their own business.
5.1.2 Village before rural development
Due to the lack of basic need people from Punsari was migrating from there to urban areas like Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi There was no proper sanitation services The roads were not properly constructed No electricity or internet Agriculture was depleting No proper schools and health care
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5.1.3 Village after rural development
It has underground Seepage framework with three point outlet which gets dumped in a landfill outside the town wherein all the waste get retain into the dirt. For waste gathering, a way to entryway accumulation framework wherein a tractor trailer which gathers squander twice per day from the town keeping in mind the end goal to gather the most extreme waste. The waste gathered includes 100% plastic . Every home is installed with safety tank toilets All weather road is provided in gthe village with covered pucca drainage system Announcements,Bhajans and other news are announced twice a day using the public announcement systems installed in two places of the villages CCTV cameras and screens connected with versatile application been introduced at key areas so as to keep a nearby watch on the everyday exercises and around 40 individuals can see the same on their portable. Likewise CCTV cameras are introduced in schools and Health centers. There is one milk bank, one outpost police station, Two Banks, One Gram Hat, One Post office, One Community Hall and 24*7 primary health Centre, Talod railway station, Block and CC Road with Internal GIS & GPS System etc. The Gram Panchayat has adopted 7P Model i.e. Punsari, Public, People, Panchayat, Private, Profit and Partnership. Mineral Reverse Osmosis (OS) plant is installed in the village An internal bus service is started by the gram panchayat All of the villagers have account in SBI bank . There is also a SBI bank and an ATM in the village
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5.1.4 Architectural strategies by the panchayat for rural development 5.1.4.1 Waste to Energy Plant
F IGURE 5 WASTE TO ELECTRICITY PLANT IN PUNSARI VILLAGE ( AUTHOR)
The villagers are utilizing cow dung waste produced as a part of family units and farms to create power. The bio-power plant is introduced, it supplies energy to streetlights while the rest of the power is provided to the family units. 400 LED street lights has been setup , which keeps running on sunlight based power and The gram panchayat tied up with GEDA (Gujarat Energy Development Agency) which gives the solar grid at Approx. Rs.7 per unit having 3 years upkeep contract and subsequently prompted to half diminishment in the cost.
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5.1.4.2 Education:
F IGURE 6 :A NGANWADI ( SOURCE : AUTHOR)
F IGURE 7 : PRIMARY SCHOOL( SOURCE : AUTHOR)
5 Primary Schools (1 to 8 standard) and 1 Higher Secondary School (9 to 12 standard) are there in the village along with 8 Anganwadis . Three of this school are smart classes. The schools have 100 percent admission rate along with zero percent dropout rate The facilities of projectors , audio visual aid and computer labs are provided in each schools. A mobile library is also set up by the gram panchayat .
5.1.4.3 From No Electricity to Internet, Wi - Fi connectivity and Banking : The village is associated Wi-Fi with boundless access with 4 mbps speed at just Rs. 50 .The villagers are utilizing Egram, most recent cultivating patterns, Mandi costs, online tax payment, mobile applications and even the panchayat sent the points of interest of tax payment through way2sms benefit.
F IGURE 8 SBI BANK WITH ATM ( SOURCE: AUTHOR) 27 | P a g e
5.1.4.4
Skill Development Centre (Kaushal Vardhak Kendra):
F IGURE 9 S KILL DEVELOPMENT CENTRE (SOURCE: AUTHOR)
Various programs such as vocational training in mechanics, Spoken English, Video Library, Beauty Parlor, Tailoring, Sewing and Stitching Classes and basics computer are offered by the center .
5.1.4.5 Women Empowerment:
F IGURE 10 WOMEN TRAINING THEMSELVES IN SHG ( SOURCE: AUTHOR)
F IGURE 11 A SHOP OWNED BY AN OLD LADY IN PUNSARI ( SOURCE : AUTHOR)
The Gram Panchayat is helping Ladies of the village. There are 109 Self Help Groups (SHGs) . At present there are 1300 ladies' occupied with SHGs. These gatherings contribute a base sum every month. They get around 8% interest on their commitment and this SHGs have estimation of Rs. 32 lakhs. The gram panchayat construct a Business Building comprising 10 shops and it is given on month to month lease of Rs. 200 – 300 to the ladies' family (spouse) 28 | P a g e
5.1.4.7 Houses
F IGURE 12 A HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE ( SOURCE : AUTHOR )
The houses in Punsari are made up of baked bricks and have concrete roofs. Each house have an average of two bed rooms, a dining hall, a veranda and a kitchen. The houses constitute an average area of 70 sq. meter .Most of the people of the village are farmers. While some of them has a grocery shop too as an extra income source. Thus along with the house they will have a small room for shop which opens up to the road.
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5.1.5Planning strategies by the panchayat for ruraldevelopment
F IGURE 13 MAP OF INDIA SHOWING GUJRAT(SOURCE: AUTHOR )
F IGURE 14 MAP OF GUJRAT ( SOURCE :WIKIPEDIA)
F IGURE 16 MAP OF PUNSARI ( SOURCE : AUTHOR)
30 | P a g e F IGURE 15 A MAP SHOWING PUNSARI VILLAGE ALONG WITH ITS FARM LANDS (SOURCE : AUTHOR )
F IGURE 17 A ZOOMED IN GOOGLE MAP OF ENTRANCE OF PUNSARI SHOWING THE MAJOR BUILDINGS AND OPEN SPACES ( SOURCE : AUTHOR)
There are two main roads which connects punsari to other villages and towns nearby.Where one of the main road leads to the Talod railway station.The main road which leads inside the village starts from a chowk in the talod-punsari road.we can see that most of the public services are aligned towards this road. Like health care centre, the high school and the bank. There is also two public spaces for village gathering. One near the health care centre, which is relatively small and other is the school ground, which is large.The shops are mostly aligned to the major road inside the village, which is depicted in red in the map.This road ends near the Skill Development centre . While the panchayat office is placed at the middle of the village, which enables a better access to all villagers.And three of the five primary schools are directly connected to the road
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5.2KUMBALANGI, KERALA
F IGURE 18 M AP OF INDIA SHOWING KERALA (SOURCE : AUTHOR)
F IGURE 19 MAP OF KERALA( SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA)
F IGURE 20 MAP OF ERNAKULAM DISTRICT SHOWING KUMBALANGI (SOURCE: WWW. KUMBALANGIPANCHAYAT. COM ) F IGURE3221| AP SKETCH a g e MAP OF KUMBALANGI VILLAGE ( SOURCE : WWW .KUMBALANGIPANCHAYAT. COM)
5.2.1Introduction Kumbalangi Gramma Panchayath is an island-village. The Panchayath surrounded by backwaters on three sides in the outskirts of the city of Cochin of the state of Kerala in South India. „Kumbalangi was part of different kingdoms during different historic periods.At present the Panchayath has got a land area of around 14.77 sq. km. The Panchayath has the utmost length of 5.21 kms and the maximum a width of 1.5 km.
5.2.1.1Geographical Boundaries Kumbalangy shares its boundaries with Kannamaly and Perumpadapu Kayals (backwaters) in north, Ezhupunna Lake in the south, Edakkochi and Aroor Kayals in the east and Chellanam Pandikudy road, Kannamaly and Ezhupunna Kayals in the west.
5.2.1.2Transportation Access to Kumbalangi tourism village can be by two ways- road ways and water ways. At present Kumbalangi is connected by road to Kochi. Public transportation by buses are available to Kumbalangi from Ernakulum south and Kaloor bus stand. Since Kumbalangi is place that is surrounded by water in three sides, ferries give greater connectivity to the Panchayath. By road the island is 45 Km away from the Kochi International Airport, 15 Km. from Ernakulum Railway Station, and 16 Km from Ernakulum KSRTC Bus Stand.
5.2.1.3Altitude The land near the backwaters is clay land. Majority of this land is situated below sea level. This land is primarily used for the cultivation of paddy and is alternately used for farming prawns and crabs. The altitude of other parts of the island is slightly above sea level. Coconut and areca nut farming are the primary cultivations in these regions.
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5.2.1.4Climate and Rainfall The temperature of Kumbalangi ranges from 32 degree Celsius to 21 degree Celsius round the year. There are two rainy seasons in a year. The first season starts with the monsoon in June and ends normally in September. The second rainy season is during the Malayalam month of Thulaam (October-November).The average rainfall during the year is 300 cm of which 200 cms is from monsoon and rest from thulavarsham.
5.2.1.5 People in the Village The density of population of the village is high. Total population in Kumbalangi Gramma Panchayath is 40331 people, out of this 19681 are male and 20650 are female. A total of 8479 families live here. Vast majority of the people own land below 5 cents. People of the village belong to Hindu, Christian, and Muslim religions and they have separate prayer houses. The Hindus primarily belong to Nambuthiri, Sarasota Brahmins, Gauda, Deevara, Kyudumby, Ezhava and Pulayari Veda backward communities. The Christian population include native Christians and AngloIndians.
5.2.1.6 Flora and Fauna Kumbalangi is an agrarian village. The main fauna in Kumbalangi are river fishes like pearlsport (Karimeen), filophia, prawns, crabs, paral, and oysters. The major flora of the place is coconut and arecanut. The main cash crops are paddy and cashew nut. The presence of large numbers of mangroves in the place protects land from soil erosion and the presence of these trees helps the growth of fishes too.
5.2.1.7Medical Facilities in the Panchayath There are only minimum medical facilities available in the Panchayath. Following are the important facilities available. There is a community health centre- an allopathic hospital owned by the Government. In the private sector there are NKN Hospital - a private allopathic hospital, four Homeopathic private clinics and three Ayurvedic private clinics.
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5.2.2 Village before rural development
Less job opportunities
Agriculture declining
No preservation of local culture
Source of income was less
The decision making and implementation system rarely included the common people
Less economical and social status for women
5.2.3 Village after rural development
Increase in the number of tourists coming, thus revenue is increased because of it Improved the condition of women with the help of Kudumbashree self help group which has its outlets in the Kumbalangi park Locals are more into conserving their culture and their built and unbuilt environment too . A road is made which connects all the major site seeing places Increase in the revenue by farming ( crab, fish , pokkali rice and coconut )
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5.2.4Architectural strategies by panchayat for rural development In 2003 the Government of Kerala took a policy initiative to encourage village or rural tourism in the state. As a response of to the policy initiative, Kumbalangi Gramma Panchayath under the leadership of the then President of the Gramma Panchayath -Mr. Shiva Dathan -and the then minister of tourism of the state – Prof. K V Thomas, who hailed from the region- took up the challenge of developing the Panchayath as a model tourism village. The efforts and experiments were proved successful and at present the Panchayath is one among the 31 endogenous tourism projects identified and funded jointly by the Government of India and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). This model tourism village offers a veritable treat to its visitors with the famous Chinese fishing nets literally encircling. This small island has a panorama of exciting sights and experiences to the tourists to savor. Arrays of mangroves separate the land from water provide a breeding ground for prawns, crabs, oysters and small fishes. The Kumbalangy Panchyathu is a home to fishermen, farmers, laborers, toddy tapers and coir spinners all alike. People of the region belong to the three major religious denominations viz the Hindu, Islam and Christianity and enjoy a harmonious life. Kumbalangi has a tranquil and quiet landscape and receives tourists with spontaneous warmth of hospitality unspoiled by the artificial demeanour of modernity. Itâ€&#x;s a virgin landscape well-preserved without excessive presence of tourists. Itâ€&#x;s a unique place adjacent to the metro township Kochi in Kerala, to relax and rejuvenate with the beauty of nature and richness of exotic cuisines. The most important tourism avenues in the island Panchayath is listed below.
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5.2.5.1 Park
F IGURE 22 PARK IN KUMBALANGI (SOURCE: WWW. SKYSCRAPERCITY . COM )
F IGURE 23 A VIEW OF SEATING IN THE PARK FACING THE CHINEESE FISHING NETS IN THE BACKWATERS (SOURCE : WWW. SKYSCRAPERCITY . COM )
As a part of developing the tourism infrastructure in Kumbalangi a park was constructed around Kumbalangi bridge at the entrance to the village. The bridge connects the village with Kochi. The park provides entertainment facilities for children and relaxation for tourists who visit here. Every day evening local foods are being served here by local kudumbasree Self Help Groups (Women SHG). Large number of public especially from Kochi, comes to the park in the evening to relish the local cuisines. Attached to the park there is a small ground which is utilised for minor exhibitions and art displays. Every year the Gramma Panchayath conducts a tourism fest for one week, showcasing Kumbalangi to the public.
5.2.5.2 Pokkali Farm Pokkali rice is a special variety of organic paddy produced in this land. Kumbalangi Panchayath comprises of 140 ha of paddy fields, which are mostly below sea level. Paddy is produced in this region through joint farming of large number of farmers. These paddy fields are concentrated in the southwestern region of the Panchayath. The tourists visit Pokkali paddy land as a part of their village visit. Some of them are interested in carrying away a pack of Pokkali rice. 37 | P a g e
5.2.5.3 Nature Walks Tourists can walk through the village and experience the culture and life of the village. The people in the village are quite hospitable in their behaviour and attitude. During the village walk tourist can watch fisher folk at work or they can join in fishing using Chinese nets, go canoeing and visit the farms etc. In the evenings, the travellers experience an exceptionally soothing atmosphere by walking along the mangroves in the tranquillity of the cool wind. The tourists can also observe large number of fishes that live around these mangroves. Tourists will be happily assisted by the local people by explaining the name of the fishes, growth pattern, specialities of breeding etc.
5.2.5.4 Chinese Fishing Nets
F IGURE 24 CHINEESE FISHING NETS (SOURCE : WWW. KUMBALANGIPANCHAYAT. COM)
Tourists have the opportunities to watch and experience the operations of Chinese fishing nets and if interested they can even join in the effort of fishing. Hundreds of Chinese fishing nets are placed in the lakes.
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5.2.5.5 Prawn and Crab Farms Kumbalangi has many crab and prawn farms. Tourists have possibilities to visit crab and prawn farms and learn about it. Small sheds attached to farm serves as the watch house for the workers. In many paddy fields, paddy cultivation and prawn and crab farming are done in alternate years. This helps the farmers to maintain the fertility of land and also enable them to use the field without using chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Boating Cruising through the backwaters gives the tourists a panoramic view of the island village and nearby places. The canoe used for cruising is locally made and the cruising is done with the assistance of the local public. No motorised boats are used for canoeing.
5.2.5.6 Kopra Making Units
F IGURE 25 KOPRA MAKING UNIT IN KUMBALANGI(SOURCE: WWW. KUMBALANGIPANCHAYAT. COM )
Kumbalangi is a village with abundant coconut trees. The ripe coconuts are collected and processed for extracting oil from coconut. „Kopraâ€&#x; is the vernacular name given to the processed coconut. Kopra is squeezed to extract oil. Tourists can visit the yards and know the oil extracting process.
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5.2.5.7 Fish Pond As already stated Kumbalangi is surrounded by water on all three sides. Earlier all the households in the island possessed drinking water wells and fish ponds. At present not all households are having ponds or even wells. The ponds owned by the individuals have different varieties of fishes. In some of the fish ponds there are Asian Carps also known as jumping fishes. They jump above the water level when there is the movement of water in the ponds. Tourists are invited to visit to these fish ponds.
5.2.5.8 Tourism Fest Every year under the leadership of the Panchayath and Kumbalangi Village Tourism Society a week long tourism fest is conducted in the island. This is conducted in December every year. The programme attracts many tourists to this place. The important events in connection with the fest are food fest where only local cuisines are served, cultural shows, where only local artists participate, boat races etc. As part of the celebrations, lot of arts and sports competitions are also conducted for the public to transform the mindset of the people favourably towards tourism. Exhibition and sales is also part of the celebration. The ground near the entrance bridge to Kumbalangi is the exhibition ground. Souvenirs and gift articles prepared by people of the locality are exhibited and sold.
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5.2.5.9 Historical sites
F IGURE 26 ILLIKAL ARDHANAREESWARI TEMPLE ( SOURCE : WIKIPEDIA)
F IGURE 27 ST GEORGE CHURCH (SOURCE :WIKIPEDIA)
The historical sites in the villages are basically the places of worship. One is a church named St. George church which was found in 1833. The church has beautiful and ancient wood carvings. There is also a 500 year old temple named Illikal ardhanareeswari temple. Both of these temples are connected by the main road and are easilly approchable
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5.2.5.10 Accommodation facilities
F IGURE 28 KUMBALANGI METHANAM RESORT (SOURCE : WWW . METANAM . COM )
FIGURE 29 AN ANCIENT HOUSE CONVERTED TO HOME STAY (SOURCE: WWW. KUMBALANGIPANCHAYAT. COM )
Kerala was the first state in India to successfully implement home stay accommodation for guests. Kumbalangi offers home stay accommodation for tourists. Home stay is the practice of welcoming guests in home and offering them hospitality and food. Hospitality becomes more warm and friendly when the guests stay at home. Home Stay offers peace, privacy and wholesome relaxation to the guests. Home stays provide an opportunity to the guests to enjoy natural beauty of Kerala and a homely atmosphere. The most appealing part of Home stays is that almost all Home Stays are situated quite away from crowded city life and heavy traffic. The hosts are family members and not trained staff with artificial etiquettes of modernity and industry. The family members welcome and serve the guests with warmth and love at heart. Therefore home stays give the tourists an atmosphere of home away from home. The Home stays not only showcase the rural life but also the warmth and care of the rural folks. Another high point of home stay in Kerala is the traditional Kerala cuisine. The guests are invited to experience and share the unique hospitality of Kerala Home Stay. Currently, there are 14 registered home stays in Kumbalangi that offer rooms to visitors. These rooms are part of the residence, where two or more rooms with attached baths are set aside for guests. Per day charges are around Rs. 1000/-, inclusive of breakfast. Lunch and dinner are provided at an extra charge. The tourists sit with the host family and eat the same food they eat. 42 | P a g e
5.2.6 Planning strategies for rural development The Kumbalangi village which is an island is connected with the nearby land through bridges and access to the village is also made possible by ferries. An there is a straight road which connects both these bridges and the historical sites like Illikal temple and St George church is connected through this road There is a park constructed for recreation adjacent to the backwaters near the entry to the village. There are Chinese fishing nets near the park. Seating is provided in the park along with the hotel by the women self help group The houses are spread over the village and the fish farms are in between the main road and the FIGURE 30 MAP OF KUMBALANGI SHOWING MAJOR ROAD FARMS AND THE PART (SOURCE : AUTHOR )
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back water
5.3 Comparison (Punsari and Kumbalangi) of development strategies Both of the villages are in different geographical conditions. Kumbalangi is an island village in Kerala surrounded by backwaters on all the sides. Where there people is already literate, but had a declining economy due to decline in agriculture and lack in job opportunities. This place is also famous for its natural beauty, style of living, cuisine and few historical monuments. While Punsari is a village in Gujarat, land bound and arid, which has a high agricultural potential. But the village lacked in literacy, communal harmony and infrastructure While both of the villages had the common problem of unemployment and migration to cities We can see that the approach towards development in both this villages are different depending upon the potential and weakness of both the villages. While Punsari chose a holistic development with the help of technology , Kumbalangi had a development strategy focusing on the tourism potential of the village. Both of the villages have an inclusive development strategy. Planning wise we can say that the development is Kumbalangi is more transit oriented, because it is important to create an ease for the tourists to come over the place and easily move around the places of environmental and historical importance. The development in Kumbalangi had a give and take relationship between the locals and the tourists. Which helped in both conservation of the natural beauty and culture along with agriculture. Punsari being a village lacked in literacy and infrastructure. It was important to provide institutions like library , schools and gathering space. While the transportation inside the village is eased by providing pukka roads and affordable bus services .unlike Kumbalangi the ease to approach the village is difficult. Punsari as a village is more sustainable than Kumbalangi.
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Chapter 5: Conclusion and Analysis 5.1 Rural development is location specific From the above readings we can formulate that there is no single formula which we can apply for the development of all the villages since villages in India are drastically different in their geography , typography, culture, availability of water , social fabric etc. Every villages have their own ecological , social and economic weaknesses and strength. It is very important to identify them first. We can see that government while thinking of rural development always come up with a single formula for all the villages irrespective of the geographical, climatic and social differences they have.
5.2 Community architecture The idea of community architecture is not just about the final product, it is also about the process. The process in which the community itself is the decision maker and the stakeholder of creating their space. This make a sense of democracy and belonging in the space thus created unlike the architecture done by somebody else
5.3Need for community space Community spaces are an essential need for an holistic development of village community . The basic community spaces that a rural population in India needs is Schools, Skill Development Centres , Ankanwadis , Women’s self help centres , Bank , Auditorium , Health Care centre ,Library and Food Court. Along with the sociological, economical and educational development of people, these spaces provide a sense of community among the villages. Spaces for women is an important architectural need in an Indian village context where women are usually encored not to go beyond the four walls of their house.
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5.4 Questioning the need of development It is important to question the need of development in a village before doing an intervention. Because it can cause worse then better. There are many villages which are happy on its own despite low economic status. But economy is a very capitalist market built word and they may not be interested in being a part of such market and they are sustainable of their own
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