Rebuilding Rasoolpura : Our Flagship Project
Freedom under Construction
Background
Zilla Parishad High School is the biggest government school in Rasoolpura. Unfortunately, the existing infrastructure at the school is woefully inadequate and does not even cater to the existing number of students (700), leave aside the new enrolments.
In spite of the original land allocated to the school being 6000 sq yards, encroachments and illegal land grabbers have reduced it to a mere 2000 sq yards. Over the years, it has been turned into a dumping ground for garbage. This land is being used as a public toilet. Many miscreants loiter around on this land indulging in anti-social activities like drinking, gambling. The school infrastructure is often vandalized; hence it is not possible to add new toilets.
We believe there is an urgent necessity for a compound wall to protect the school premises.
Objective
We plan to start with constructing a Boundary Wall (compound wall) around Rasoolpura School ground to prevent any misuse of the land and to ensure safety and security for the children.
Solution
We will construct a boundary wall around the school along with members of BHUMI, Rasoolpura Slum and volunteers. This event is scheduled for the 15th Of August ‘06. At the stroke of the midnight, we wish to start the construction of the boundary wall. We believe that such an activity would truly compliment the spirit and the responsibility that come with Independence Day.
Keeping the multi-dimensional problems of the area, we propose a Resource Center, which would directly assist us in our integrated development program. After securing the school land, we will go on to build a Resource Center. 40,000 sft of constructed space will then be available as a nerve center for all our transformation initiatives in Rasoolpura. Apart from ensuring quality infrastructure for education, we will also use this facility to drive livelihood and health initiatives in the area.
We have currently considered the following programs for livelihood generation:
- A BPO with an initial capacity of 50 people who will be trained in Data Entry and other basic IT operations.
- A garment manufacturing facility which will provide multi-fold opportunities for the women in this slum like tailoring, embroidery and other allied options.
Benefits
We believe the construction of the wall will help in the following ways. It will help:
1. The School to retain the little land still in its possession, meant for use by students.
2. Put a stop to a lot of anti-social activities like drinking, gambling in the school premises.
3. Help the school in providing better infrastructure to the students.
4. Will help in motivating over 20,000 child labourers to go to school.
Details of Works
We propose to start digging along the perimeter on the 13th August ’06 and also lay the bedrock and leave it to dry overnight. We will be deploying 20 labourers to complete this work. These labourers will be supervised by 4 mestris. On the 14th morning we will start laying the 2 ft foundation for the wall. Again the work force deployed will be the same. 00:00 hrs 15th August 400 volunteers of BHUMI will start constructing the wall and bathrooms, finishing the work by 8:00 Am.
The details of the construction required:
Boundary Wall (Compound Wall)
Perimeter of the land: 600 running ft.
Foundation for the wall: 2 ft
Height of the proposed wall: 4 ft
Material to be consumed:
Bricks: 15000
Granites: 2400
Bended: 3 loads
Sand: 2 loads
Cement: 100 bags
W/C’s: 2 Nos.
Asbestos Sheets: 20 sft
Sanitary fittings: As per specifications
Electrical Fittings: As per specification
Marble Plaque with name of School engraved along with sponsor details.
Labour/Equipment Requirements:
Labour for digging and laying the foundation: 25 Nos.
Mestris to monitor the digging and foundation laying: 4
Mestris to monitor construction of the wall: 5
Volunteers to construct the wall: 400
Flood lights to light up the area: 10 Nos.
Tea and Snacks for Workers.
Estimated cost of work: 4 Lakhs (All the excess amount raised will be utilized in Rebuilding Rasoolpura and this is a long-term project of transforming the slum)
With Rasoolpura transformation as our flagship project, we wish to demonstrate our collective will to build a future on our own pillars. We wish Rasoolpura to be a slum transformation initiative that can ideally be replicated in other areas. We seek support from likeminded individuals and organisations in fulfilling this dream.
Our campaign revolves around individuals like you who wish to contribute to our efforts.
You can:
1. Buy A Brick – You can donate a brick for Rs. 250(~$5). As a souvenir, you will get a personalized Independence Day card from BHUMI. Each brick you donate will help build the foundation for making these children’s dreams come true. Click here
2. Participate in the Event – At the stroke of midnight this August 15th, you can relive the spirit of Independence in this once-in-a-lifetime event. Join us by contributing Rs. 250(~$5). As a token of appreciation, you will get a t-shirt and other souvenirs.
For more details Visit http://www.bhumi.in/project_rasoolpura.htm