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Nature knows no boundaries.
On August 18, 2008 the river Kosi breached a man-made embankment, its ravaging waters devastated multiple man-made ecosystems,
and drowned the hopes of more
than 3 million people in Bihar. As welcome relief, poured in band-aid remedies, refugee camps, and millions of dollars. |
What was missing
was a
well-engineered
rehabilitation solution that
would compliment nature
rather than compete with it. |
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MACE transforms flood-hit Pattori to
an eco-friendly model village |
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What is in our nature never dies. Time and again our employees have risen to the challenges of natural disasters. It is has always been our endeavour to leverage these challenges as opportunities to spark robust self-sustaining transformations. |
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Having understood the unpredictable nature of River Kosi and the constant threat it poses to 73% of the state we came to the conclusion that there was eminent wisdom in pursuing the alternative strategy of adapting to live with the floods rather than pursuing interventions to only combat them. |
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Our constant drive to push the limits of legacy
thinking, transformed what could have been just a
humble flood relief donations drive in to a strategic,
long-term rehabilitation program for the residents of
Pattori villagers. |
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The experience and expertise
of MACE in natural disaster rehabilitation projects has resulted in a complete transformation of a village in
the most remote part of Bihar. |
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| On 18th August, 2008 the Kosi breach caused severe damage to life and property drowning hundreds of villages and fields in its way. The five most affected districts were Madhepura, Araria, Supaul, Saharsa and Purnia. |
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| The Mahindra Foundation (MF), has been very active during national calamities and disasters. |
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| Leveraging on the flood rehabilitation expertise of Mahindra Consulting Engineers (MACE), we revived the flood-devastated Pattori village to become a self sufficient ecosystem. The main objective behind the development of this self thriving, sustainable village model was that Pattori being a remote village did not enjoy access to support facilities like external roads, water supply, sanitation and electricity, etc. |
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| A total of 3,40,742 houses were damaged and 7,12,140 animals were affected. |
A total of 239 humans
and 1,232 animals' lives were lost. |
About 3.345 million people in these districts suffered heavily in terms of displacement and loss
of assets. |
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| MACE acted as single point responsible agency right from initiating memorandum of understanding with Government of Bihar (GoB), till handing over of facilities to GoB and to the beneficiaries. Funds were contributed by employees across the Mahindra Group and the Management. |
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| Pattori village is located in Singheswar Block, Madhepura District of Bihar under the Kosi Relief and Rehabilitation Scheme. |
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| Drafting the Greenprint |
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| MACE undertook a holistic planning approach and used innovative themes and ideas while drawing up plans for this village, which earlier lacked even basic facilities such as electricity, water supply or sanitation. |
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| The scope of the project was complete restoration of village infrastructure including houses, community facilities, and provision of livelihood support based on the policy of sustained economy and environment. |
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The aim of this project was to transform the lifestyle of the affected community and mend the gap between the privileged and underprivileged sections of society. |
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| Also, the various options for dwelling units and other components of the village were studied with respect to the choice of technology, cost efficiency, simple and speedy execution, durability, employment to local workforce, energy conservation, eco-friendly building materials and minimum maintenance efforts. |
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In the selection process for the allotment of homes it was kept in mind that the underprivileged, the widows and the musahars (dalit of the dalits) were given priority. |
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| Transforming the Terrain |
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| Slowly and steadily this flood ravaged village metamorphosed to become a clean, green and secure ecosystem which is not just disaster resistant but self sufficient. This development also provided employment for the local workforce. So strong was this business case that it has become a model for other NGOs and corporate to undertake future rehabilitation projects. |
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| Due care was laid on transforming the life style of the villagers without changing the ecology. |
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| Highlights of the project: |
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45 disaster-resistant dwelling place |
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- a plinth area of 294 sq.ft. and plot area of 1000 sq.ft. |
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- open area for other usages |
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- greenhouse shade net for kitchen |
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- water supply arrangement to deliver potable water |
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- toilet block and septic tank |
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Host of eco-friendly features including: |
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- solar lighting, rain water harvesting, eco bioblock for digestion of
bio-degradable liquid discharge, extensive usage of locally available bamboo |
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Community hall cum Flood Relief Centre |
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Crop cultivation and nursery growing |
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Raised resting platform |
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Children's play area with sports items |
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Provision of water supply system to deliver potable water |
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| Apart from building an eco friendly village and providing employment to the local work force, MACE also contributed to the women of the community by creating self employment schemes for the women. |
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| This project attains a place of pride in our hearts as the entire development cycle of Pattori village initiated and completed by MACE is now viewed as a template for future rehabilitation projects across the nation. |
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