Building bamboo homes

Looking at how the underprivileged go through a lot of trouble to find a place to live in, four civil engineering students came up with a sustainable and inexpensive alternative — bamboo reinforced mud concrete structures.

At the recently held Rural Innovators Startup Conclave (RISC-2017), these final year students of Lords Institute of Engineering and Technology, won the Best Innovator Award for the same.

Describing the conclave that was held at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (NIRD & PR), Ministry of Rural Development, Rajendranagar, 22-year-old Mohammed Abdul Samee says, “There were two categories to showcase one’s work — one for start-ups and another for innovators. We put up a stall at the innovators block to showcase our work.”

His teammate, who also shares the same name, Mohammed Abdul Samee, says, “Many visitors were dropping by our stall, as were the jury members. When we were announced as the winners, we were pleasantly surprised.”

It was under the guidance of their professor, that the team came up with the idea to replace steel and concrete with bamboo. “Using bamboo in construction will generate employment in rural areas — bringing the cost of construction and labour down. Also, the poor can access it,” says Mohammed Kaiser, another teammate.

According to the team, the mud concrete mix has the same strength as the concrete mix, and can be used to construct a G+1 building, footings, beams and slabs.

While most of their friends are into computer science, these youngsters wanted to become civil engineers as their families are also into construction. After graduating, they plan to pursue higher studies in the same field.

When not discussing ideas and studying, the team spends time travelling together and playing cricket.