NEW DELHI (AlertNet)Â? When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami devastated India's Andaman Islands, some 4,000 prefabricated bamboo houses provided a quick and effective way to give shelter to thousands made homeless by the disaster.
Dubbed the "fastest-growing plant on earth", bamboo provides structures that are durable, cost-efficient and easy to construct and transport and could revolutionise the provision of shelter for millions of people displaced by natural disasters and conflict, manufacturers say.
India's National Mission on Bamboo Applications(NMBA) -- a government body set up to develop and promote the use of bamboo -- says bamboo's properties makes it ideal for use in disaster relief housing.
A basic bamboo house made out of prefabricated plywood, which can accommodate about 10 people, will take about six hours to construct.
Due to plants' strength and flexibility, bamboo houses can withstand earthquakes of up to 6 on the richter scale, and if a building does collapse, it will cause minimal injury due to its light weight and elastic properties unlike concrete structures.
"Bamboo is durable with a minimum life span of 30 years, it can withstand wind speeds of up to 150 kmph, is earthquake safe, waterproof, fire retardant, lightweight, cost-effective and easy to transport and erect," said Krishna Kumar, NMBAÂ?s senior scientific officer.
"It is also environment-friendly as bamboo is a non-wood plant-based material which provides all the benefits of wood without damaging natural forests."
IDEAL PROPERTIES
Natural disasters such as cyclones, earthquakes, floods as well as civil war and insurgencies force around 42 million people from their homes annually, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
One of the biggest challenges in providing disaster relief housing to people made homeless by such disasters is finding structures which are durable, cost-efficient and easy to construct and transport.
Aid workers responding to disasters say bamboo relief housing is becoming increasingly used in emergencies due to its qualities, adding that wider use will also help promote employment opportunities for local communities.
Â?There is huge potential to scale up the use of bamboo as a disaster relief material,Â? said P.V. Unnikrishnan, ActionAidÂ?s international programme manager for emergencies and conflict. Â?It has the capacity to resist many difficult environments and due to it being locally sourced, local people can benefit from income generating activities Â? we widely support the use of this in many emergencies.Â?
India currently grows about 130 species of bamboo, with around 15 of them -- mainly sourced from the countryÂ?s north eastern states such as Assam -- suitable for making plywood for housing.
Around 20 Indian companies manufacture bamboo plywood for the construction industry and have for a number of years been building eco-friendly hotels, schools, government buildings and houses for rural communities throughout the country.
But it was only after the tsunami that devastated the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that the industry realised it could tap into the desperate need for relief housing due to bambooÂ?s ideal properties.
Promoters say it is easy to grow in many disaster-prone countries like India where hot and dry climates abound and is one of fastest-growing plants Â? with a first harvest after 3 years and then after every year.
They also say it is a Â?clean greenÂ? material as bamboo is the most oxygen-generating plant Â? with a grove emitting 35 percent more oxygen and absorbing four times more carbon dioxide than an equivalent stand of trees.
The NMBA, which works under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology, says the shelters have been tested at various temperatures from 55 degrees Celsius in IndiaÂ?s desert state of Rajasthan to -40 degrees at the Siachen glacier in the Himalayas.
Unlike steel, it is not vulnerable to rust and bamboo relief houses constructed in the 100 percent salty humidity of the Andamans have worked well.
Bamboo housing can be permanent, but also temporary, say promoters adding that it can be de-constructed quickly with minimum effort and reused somewhere else.
This could possibly give it a use in longer-term refugee and displacement camps where aid agencies often have to invest in Â?winterisationÂ? and Â?summerisationÂ? activities as seasons change.
Costs are still relatively high at 75,000 rupees ($1,610) for a basic 16x12-foot house, but still cheaper than the basic concrete structure with a corrugated iron roof, costing around 200,000 rupees ($4,300) often built during the early recovery phase of a disaster.
NEW MARKETS
Apart from the houses constructed in the Andamans after the tsunami, some were also built in IndiaÂ?s Himalayan state of Kashmir after the 2005 earthquake.
The Indian army also uses around 50 igloo shelters made from bamboo and jute in Siachen glacier Â? the highest battlefield in the world -- as well as in Sikkim in the Himalayas.
Schools in Kashmir and hotels in the south state of Tamil Nadu have also been built using prefabricated bamboo.
According to the NMBA, very few companies outside of India are applying bamboo to disaster relief and they have had a few requests from countries like China, Sri Lanka and Nepal for the export of such products.
But manufacturers say they need to promote bambooÂ?s disaster relief applications more.
Â?The idea of disaster relief housing is still very new and we want to promote it more amongst those who respond to disasters such as the government and aid agencies,Â? said Jyotsna Rajpal from Erosway Private Ltd., a company which makes bamboo-reinforced pit latrines.
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