Types of Rural Houses

The design of rural houses is closely related to the local climatic conditions. India has wide variations in climatic conditions such as the perennial snows of the Northern Himalayas, the hot dry desert of Western Rajasthan and thus, we have different types of traditional buildings in the different regions. 

Based on their characteristic terrain, building resources i-qd  climate, our country can be divided into the following regions : 

1. Himalayan region, 
2. Northern plains, 
3. Central uplands, 
4. Western arid plains, 
5. Peninsular plateau, 
6. Coastal regions, and 
7. North-eastern region. 

The use of traditional materials from the local natural resource base has shaped the predominant modes of house construction in rural India. Locally-built forms have evolved over a long period of time to meet the climatic and socio-economic needs of these regions and hence, a wide range of house types can be found throughout the rural areas as follows : 

Over 40 % of the rural houses in India are built with thatch and timber roofs. Over 70% of the houses in north-eastern states, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and the majority of rural houses in Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are of this type. 

Over 55 % of the rural houses in India are built with mud, unburnt bricks and wood as the predominant walling materials. About 70% of houses in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh are having walls of these materials. 

Over 30 % of the rual houses in India are built with stones, fired bricks and other permanent materials suitable for walls. Over 50% of the houses in Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are built with stones and bricks. 

Over 50% of roofs in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are roofed with tiles. In Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, slates and other stones form the permanent roofing materials. 

The average area of the houses and households in rural and urban regions are as under (NBO, 1974) : 

1. The rural houses had an average area of 40.38 sq m with 5.17 persons per household. This number has increased to 5.5, since. 
2. The urban houses had an average area of 32.64 sq m with 4.74 persons per household. 

Regarding the number of rooms in a given type of house, the following data were collected (NBO, 1971) percentage-wise : 

The present unsatisfactory state of shelter and quality of environment in rural areas is an extension of the problems of (Aromar Ravi, 1990) : 

1. high population growth, 
2. increased rural inpoverishment  and unemployment, 
3. differential priorities accorded to industrial and  urban growth, 
4. low levels of access to social services and linkages, 
5. marginalisation of women and under privileged classes, and 
6. an alarming deterioration in the quality of physical environment. 

Among the major problems faced in finding feasible solutions to the rural housing are : 

1. the breaking down of traditional systems of building, 
2. a lack of adequate technology, building skills, and trained people to help improve the quality of locally built environment, and 
3. the lack of access to modem building materials, mainly due to non-affordability. 

The potential role of professional design by qualified engineers in the rural-house construction process, was not considered as important till the mid-seventies. The major problems facing this area at the moment, inspite of our belated efforts are (Aromar Ravi, 1990) as follows : 

1. a lack of knowledge and non-availability of information on appropriate building/construction technology with local materials, 
2. limited existing agencies which adopt a building design to local needs and simultaneously carry out large-scale programmes, 
3. a lack of trained personnel and institutions that are capable of supprtiilg construction, design and repair work in the areas of rural house building, 
4. an inadequate understanding of local resources and design practices, which is a necessary condition for any successful attempt to upgrade them, and 
5. a lack of adequate production and distribution systems to popularise innovative systems of design. 

The new approach to planning, analysis, design and construction of rural houses would have to be on the following premise : 

1. a well designed housing development programme will depend on promoting self-reliance and participation of the people by building up local technical and managerial capability, 
2. an improvement in the built-up environment of the rural poor can be a major catalyst for socio-economic development, 
3. the internal sector(which includes self-employed engineers) has an important and long-term role to play, provided the necessary support systems are available, 
4. to reach the full potential that improved shelter has to offer to the nation, the approvals must necessarily be based on self-financing and variable approach, 
5. the major accelerator of improvement in the informal sector is access to information which will provide the ability to restructure the use of available materials, energy,tools and organisational methods to create new options and alternatives, 
6. any widely acceptable and lasting solution must be low-cost, 
7. better and more appropriate materials of construction which will generate technologies compatible with local needs and resources shall be utilized. 
8. a level of specifications that is appropriate to the level of investment available, and little or no over loads as incurred by formal agencies shall be defied.