Logo

June 2010

We thought we would bring you up-to-date on housing in the Alleppey area. Many of you have built homes over the years. In our first article, I report on the rising costs for housing construction in Alleppey.  In the second article, our Board chair, Judy Warner, has teamed with Sr. Daphne to explain some housing developments in Alleppey that may be impacting on your families.

Warmest regards in Saint Francis

Alan J. Ouimet, S.F.O.

The Rising Cost of Home Construction

An good sense of our problems in India can be seen in a report on the price rise of housing in India. Housing used to be a simple matter.  Five years ago we were building houses at about $1500. It enabled us to start a program where the FFA would give half of that amount and the sponsor, possibly with the help of savings from the family if sponsored over a long period of time, the other half.  However, the current economic progress in India has resulted in using building materials for business and government construction along with middle class housing. Consequently,  the poor have been priced out of the market as resources such as sand, wood etc became scarce resulting in price increases. The price of housing jumped to $2500 in the last two years. This year sponsors will have to pay around $3500. In a word, the poor are being priced out of the market.

Sister Daphne sent me the following examples of price increases for 2008 - 2009 for housing material. The amounts are in rupees. Please calculate the exchange rate at rs 44 to the dollar.

  • R.Sand from 6,500 to 17,000
  • Tiles from 9 to 13
  • Door & Window Part from 800 to 900
  • Painting Materials from 1000 to 1300
  • Clamp & Nail from 600 to 950
  • Mason labor charge from 8,500 to 12,500
  • Carpenter labor charge from 6,500 to 8,000
Does this mean you cannot build a house for your family? Not exactly. It is expensive but if you can shoulder most of the costs I strongly encourage it. We can talk about it as sometimes a sponsor donates a large sum with no restrictions enabling us to share some of the costs.

Tsunami Houses

gov house 2       gov house 3

Some sponsors are receiving notes from their families that the houses which they provided for them are being torn down. This is because of a government run house building program brought on by the devastation suffered in certain areas of the tsunami of 2004.  Families who live along the coastal belt near the sea are being told their homes must be replaced if the Indian government has determined that their existing home is vulnerable to collapse if a tsunami ever happens again.

The way the program works, if a family's home has been designated, the house will be demolished and the family will receive 2 ½ lakhs of rupees in three installments from the government's tsunami fund to build a new home according to a model plan provided by the government. All families are co-operating with the government's new policy because if they are not willing to receive the new allotted house, these families will never get any concession from government in future for repairs or reconstruction of their houses. 

The new housgov housees are self-contained and sturdy.  Sr. Daphne has provided us with photos of houses that have already been built. These homes have strong foundations and their roofs are made of concrete. You can see a patio on the roof of one of houses in this article. These houses will withstand damage much better in the monsoon season than many of the existing homes which have roofs made of coconut wood and at best only last 10 or 15 years.

The families who already have the new homes are pleased with them. Electricity and water connections are not provided in the homes but the families can add them. If you receive a note from your family that their home is being replaced under the tsunami program, you might consider helping with electricity and water.

Sr. Daphne has been very much concerned about the impact of this program on our sponsors, who have generously provided for a proper shelter to their beneficiary families and are now hearing that it will be torn down. She asks that we take into consideration the benefit of the family in getting a more secured shelter.
Franciscan Family Apostolate
93 Country Way, Madison, CT 06443
203-458-8172 --ffaindia@att.net
Quick Links
Franciscan Family Apostolate
Alan Ouimet
Founder and President