Low Cost Housing to manual Scavengers
20 families of manual scavengers in Vadipatti Town were provided with basic shelter and sanitation facilities. First a Project Monitoring Committee was formed with specific roles and responsibilities such as selecting the families and training them to build. Houses were constructed using low cost, locally available materials. The masons employed an indigenous technique of brick laying using local red soil mixed with river sand as traditionally used in that region, updated with low cost furnace bricks cheaper than normal bricks. The walls were plastered with mortar to protect them from rain. VOC RDC with its team of civil engineers made possible to construct these low cost houses in a difficult location, near a canal bank embankment and a drainage system. They also assisted the families during the construction process. With the collaboration of the District Administration through the Total Sanitation Project, each house was equipped with a toilet to ensure individual and public hygiene.
