Prashak

AN UPDATE ON THE SMARTGRAM SECONDARY SCHOOL AT DAULHA, SOHNA, GURUGRAM BEING BUILT WITH FINANCIAL ASSITANCE FROM ONGC LIMITED UNDER ITS CSR INITIATIVE USING HABITECH-NIVARATANTRA HOUSING AND SANITATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS UNDER THE "SMARTGRAM - SMART MODEL VILLAGES" INITIATIVE LAUNCHED BY SHRI PRANAB MUKHERJEE, HONORABLE FORMER PRESINDET OF INDIA.

Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Honorable Former President of India launched the SMARTGRAM initiative during his Presidency on the 02nd July 2016 in a project mode by adopting five villages selected by the Haryana Government, which based on the successful outcomes was extended to a total of 100 villages in the Gurugram and Mewat districts of Haryana.

Under the leadership of Smt. Omita Paul, the then Secretary to the President of India, the President's Secretariat formulated a unique group comprising various departments, government / private organizations and other institutions with diverse expertise and innovations to augment the diverse knowledge and experience of Rashtrapati Bhavan and enable accomplishment of the vision and objective of transforming these villages to "SMARTGRAM – a model for sustainable and vibrant rural community with Humane, Hi-tech, Health, Happiness & Harmony at its core".

One of the key resolves arising from the comprehensive development plan put together was establishing a SMARTGRAM School in the selected village Daulah using new innovative construction technologies based on which the Government of Haryana notified the approval of allocation of the land for the same in village Daulah.

Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals, a non-government, non-profit organization and technology proliferation partner for proliferation of the novel Habitech-NivaraTantra Technology solutions provided by Prashak, expressed their desire to be associated with the SMARTGRAM initiative and created the detailed design plans along with the proposal for construction of the SMARTGRAM School building at village Daulah in collaboration with Prashak which was submitted to the potential funding entity – ONGC Limited through the President’s Secretariat. Based on the technical evaluation, ONGC agreed to provide financial assistance for construction of the proposed Smartgram School building at village Daulah using the novel Habitech-NivaraTantra onsite sanitation integrated building technology solutions. The MOU between ONGC and ISAP was signed on the 01st June 2017.

The foundation stone for the Smartgram Daulah School project was laid by the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on the 02nd June 2017 in the august presence of Shri Kaptan Singh Solanki, Honorable Governor of Haryana; Shri Manohar Lal, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana; Rao Inderjit Singh, Honorable Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), for Planning & Urban development; Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Honorable Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Honorable Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas; Shri Ram Bilas Sharma, Honorable Education Minister of Haryana; Shri Om Prakash Dhankar, Honorable Agriculture, Development & Panchayat Minister of Haryana; Rao Narbir Singh, Honorable Public Works Minister of Haryana; Shri Vipul Goel, Honorable Industries and Commerce Minister of Haryana; Shri Tejpal Tanwar, Honorable MLA, Sohna, Haryana.

The CLU approval for the allocated land was accorded by the Directorate of Town & Country Planning (DTCP), Haryana on 01st March 2018 and subsequently DTCP gave approval for Building Plans on the 22nd June 2018. The main construction work commenced subsequent to receipt of the NOC from HUDA and District Administration on the 06th October 2018.

The School Building Structure technology comprises 2 key innovations:

"compacted intermeshing®" blocks (CIB) made from local soil judiciously mixed with stabilizers and additives. The production of compacted intermeshing blocks is an entirely green process using novel, simple to use, manual press equipment (operable by unskilled people) for small projects and high pressure Hydraulic press system (operable by unskilled people after short training) for large projects and unlike conventional brick making process, it does not require kilns / furnace to fire the blocks. These blocks have novel structural voids for intermittent horizontal and vertical reinforcement to enable appropriate structural strength obviating use of beams, columns and concrete lintels. The voids in the CIB also enable natural air curtain against temperature, noise pollution and water penetration.
"Peggable Contoured®" flat roofing structure comprising Joist and contoured pans manufactured with the help of novel joist and pan making equipment leading to a flat roof with significantly higher load bearing capacity with much lesser amount of Cement as compared to conventional flat roofs.
This innovative technology solution enables creation of state of the art, disaster resilient environmental friendly, green and cost-effective building structures of ground plus two levels using local materials and resources (unskilled manpower including women) with significantly lower use of Cement and Steel, resulting in low carbon foot print, gender equality and an effective financial inclusion model.

The Onsite Natural Sanitation technology comprises 2 key innovations:

A novel Anaerobic "Inclined multi-baffles®" reactor (AIBR) system which enables a significantly better digestion of fecal matter resulting in significantly lower particulate effluent discharge
The effluent discharged from AIBR is treated in a uniquely constructed wetland (CW) comprising horizontal and sub surface flow CW units with scientifically defined levels and hydraulic profile and the treated water after appropriate aeration is safely dischargeable for irrigation and non-drinking usage, enabling mitigation of disease risk and ensuring Health and well-being of residents and the community.

The above technology features with its people centric approach, enables catering the unmet need of the market – a long term durable structure which is sustainable, disaster resilient, green solution for construction structures including housing, empowering masses to build their own house in a very simplistic and most cost affordable way (enables an overall 15-30% cost advantage over conventional systems). Habitech-NivaraTantra® - the integrated Innovative Building & Sanitation Technology solutions results in accomplishment of multiple value outcomes including breaking the shackles of dependency on construction skills and financial ability and empowering lay people to bring to reality, the creation of respectful, robust and habitable social housing community leading to accomplishing the SMARTGRAM® model more particularly for the rural / peri-urban masses including the bottom of the pyramid comprising Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) & Low Income Group (LIG) communities.

As of July 2019, the building structure has reached up to the roof slab level and the handover of the building is expected to be completed by May 2020.

Photos of the site