By Jyotishmoy Deka
Nebula Infraspace is an organization working towards creating inclusive, affordable and sustainable housing in India. Through their Aavaas initiative, they aim to provide affordable housing to all segments of the society, and extend this ideology towards the construction workers of their housing projects, as well. Since the inception and establishment of Aavaas, two projects have been initiated, in Changodar (Ahmedabad) and Miyapur (Hyderabad) with over 6000 affordable apartments under construction, and approximately 5000 in the development stage.
Socially Impactful and Sustainable Business Model
Through their belief in Affordable living, not just affordable housing, they are aiming to develop a business model that is socially impactful and sustainable, and as part of their CSR initiative, Aavaas by Nebula aims to provide decent living conditions to its construction workers and their families. They partnered with Hannah Broatch and Mason Rattray from Hatch Workshop to build a contextual adaptation of an Archiprix winning design for its innovative and self-sustaining infrastructure.
Contextual Adaptation for Improved Living Conditions
After months of on-site and architectural research with academics and architectures from India and New Zealand, an original design was specifically built for the migrant workers’ colony. The housing units can be dismantled and reassembled for re-use. This ultimately provides the workers and their families a better quality of life and ensures their lives are not disrupted due to the nature of their work.
Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Providing Basic Necessities
To provide basic necessities and facilities to their construction workers, Nebula is using a multi-stakeholder approach and has partnered with Aajeevika Bureau for providing healthcare facilities, and Saath Charitable Trust for providing age-appropriate learning and education, and care through crèche facilities for the children of workers on site.
Implementation of Sustainable Infrastructure and Monitoring
To ensure overall quality living conditions for the workers, Nebula has also implemented a bio-digester system for toilets, an efficient waste segregation and management system where the wet waste is turned into compost on site and dry waste is collected by Nepra for recycling, and have also made cooking and safety provisions to operationalize the housing colony. To ensure proper implementation of the program, and monitor and evaluate the impact of the initiative, they have partnered with The 4th Wheel, a company working in the area of social development and impact assessment.
Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
On a larger scale, Aavaas by Nebula is aiming to tackle issues like poverty, hunger, health, sustainable living, education, sanitation, clean water and providing decent work to their workers by linking their efforts with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as proposed by the United Nations.
Investing in a Multi-Disciplinary Development Model
Using their multi-disciplinary approach, they aim to continue investing in this development model for constructions workers, a plug and play approach which can be used by other industries as well, and continue working towards their motto- Building The Futures of Those Who Build Our Future Homes – and set a benchmark for decent work and human rights for migrant workers everywhere.
About the Author
Jyotishmoy Deka is the Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Nebula Infraspace LLP.
