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And now, instant houses: Delhi, Arunachal to go in for Australian company's 210-minute projects

The pressing problem of housing and accommodation prevailing in metro cities may have found a solution in the form of affordable ''instant houses'', a unique way to build strong and longer lasting houses.

An Adelaide-based company, Rapid Building Systems, has come out with a project of constructing a house in just three-and-a-half hours with gypsum and fibre glass.

The company, in collaboration with Project and Equipment Corporation of the Union government, is planning to construct houses with hollow blocks of 20 feet by five feet prepared with the help of gypsum and fibre glass.

The company had so far executed projects in Malaysia, Sydney and Bahrain and now its proposal had been accepted in Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh.

Talking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, PEC's chief general manager D Singh said the project of constructing such houses had been submitted to Gujarat Narmada Development Minister Jayanarayan Vyas. He said such houses, with a durability of 50 years, would be useful especially in rehabilitation of the displaced people.

Singh said that multi-stored buildings can also be constructed on concrete plinth provided steel beams are used .

Elaborating the process of constructing these houses, he said the hollow block of gypsum and fibre glass would be fixed with nuts and bolts and these blocks could be shifted.

Facilites like electric and telephone connection along with water and sanitation amenities can also be provided. Since the block will be hollow, the temperature in them will not rise to higher degree.The hollow sheet (wall) could be thick from 90 centimetres to 120 cm at outer level.

Singh said these houses are water- and fire-proof and could be dismantled for shifting.

He said gypsum was available in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi. There was a proposal to use eight acres of land for such houses in Delhi. There will not be any investment on the part of the state or central governments, he said, adding the company will bring its machinery and ''prepare'' the houses. After the sale of the houses, the company would be paid its charges.

He said these houses will require lesser expenses than that of reinforced cement concrete with more space available in the house's carpet area.

However, he did not specify the price of the house saying that it will vary in different areas and on the availability of materials.

The Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary had shown interest in this project to construct 300 schools. Houses would also be constructed in Ahmedabad or Vadodara on the same lines. If this model proved perfect, it would be used on a large-scale.

UNI