Bamboo Housing in

Manipur

N. Gitkumar
Architect Planner
Former Chief Town Planner & Director (Municipal
Administration, Housing and Urban Development)
Government of Manipur
 Focus on…
• Why Housing ? Roti, Kapada aur Makaan.
• My guide from SPA says: Most visible!
• Born & brought up in a bamboo house & bamboo family
• 1979, 40 years ago, JNTU Exposure.
• 1981, My first composite.
• 2001, My bamboo soak pit
• Retired & free now.
World Population Growth, in Billions
Number of years to add each billion (year)
So pressure on land, Pressure on Residential areas?

First Billion All of Human History (1800)

Second 130 (1930)

Third 30 (1960)

Fourth 15 (1975)

Fifth 12 (1987)

Sixth 12 (1999)

Seventh 14 (2013)

Eighth 14 (2027)

Ninth 21 (2048)
4
MANIPUR - PHYSICAL
PROFILE:

Hills

Valley

Hills
5
URBAN AREAS OF MANIPUR (2011)
“Manipur – The Land of Jewel”
As described by our first Prime Minister
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

Manipur boasts of an exotic landscape with

gently undulating hills, emerald green valleys,
blue lakes and dense forests.

Land with no beggars, no landless and no

homeless.
Dress Code for every ceremony
 Once upon a time...

 Allthe houses has similar design

 Made of bamboo with mud walls
 Thatched roofing
Manipuri Residential Unit Comprises of

SANGOI

YUMJAO KEI(Store)
Utility units
Out-Houses
Typical Traditional Houses
 Typical Traditional Houses

Well planned considering

•Lifestyle
•Occupation
•Amenities
Mangol (Living cum multi-
utility space in every house)
Mud plastered wall details
Transformation 1
The First Extension(Beginning of the End)
Thatch roof to GCI sheet with mud wall
 Why the Changes?

Manipur in seismic Zone V

Heavy rainfall area
Prone to flooding
Rain........
Can this be an alternative?
Destruction caused by earthquakes
Bamboo affected by insect
attacks
 The Three Women
Market, Imphal

Thatched roof ladies

market sheds, 1892 1986
Typical Present Day Houses
Typical Present Day Houses
 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
Housing for All(Urban)
 “By the time the Nation completes 75
years of its independence, every family
will have a pucca house”.
 The Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs, Government of India approved
construction of 28,936 EWS houses for
26 towns of Manipur
 Another 17,000 EWS houses likely to be
approved soon.
 Bamboo in the future
Housing related activities

 As an Urban Planner, I keep comparing

promotion of bamboo houses with
rejuvenation of cycle & pedestrian
movements in a city. Car users will never
come back to public transport. Likewise
people in concrete will never come back to
bamboo for their shelter.
 As a composite material
 In eco-tourism projects
 Out houses
 Utility units
Bamboo plantation at MSW Plant, Lamdeng
I have done….
Thank You