1

Flood Resilient Low Cost Housing Practices in

Pakistan

Ghulam Mustafa Zaor,

Chief Services Executive- HANDS
National Workshop on Affordable Housing
March 9, 2019
 Background
Housing Rights;
• Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Resilient housing is in lined with the Sendai Framework’s
priority areas 3 and 4
• Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) clearly emphasizing & recognizing
the right of everyone to an adequate housing and to the
continuous improvement of living conditions
• Article 38 D of Constitution of Pakistan under Promotion of
social and economic wellbeing of the people recognize that
housing is basic necessity of life and state is responsible to
provide irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race, as are
permanently or temporary unable to earn their livelihood on
account of infirmity, sickness or unemployment.
 Background
• According to the report of State Bank of Pakistan;
• The backlog of housing
units has exceeded 9 million
• It is estimated that the
need for 400,000 units are
added to it every year.
• Back in 2005, the then
federal government had
come up with an ambitious
‘housing for all’ plan backed
by a comprehensive policy
framework to make it a
reality. But like many other
ambitious plans this too
remained unexecuted.
 Background
• 50% families lives in one-room
tenements, their family members
ranging between 8 to 15;
• Urban centers are growing at a
rate of nearly 5 per cent as
against the national growth rate
of 2.4 per cent;
• In cities like Karachi, Lahore,
Quetta, Hyderabad and
Faisalabad, there is a phenomenal
increase in the number of katchi
abadis and the government is not
able to meet the increasing
demand for land, especially for
the low-income groups;
 Background
• The highest frequency of floods and heavy rains have been
observed in recent times during 1992, 1995, 2010, 2011 and 2012
• 3.0 million houses damaged/ affected (PDMA Sindh)
• Huge loss nearly 1,000 billion inflicted on public infrastructures
Overall, 20 million people, almost half of Sindh’s was affected /
displaced
 Background
• A team of Shelter Experts Deployed by HANDS to find out
the causes of damages
• Teams worked in South Sindh, Northern Sindh & South
Punjab
• 6 districts in South Sindh, 4 Districts in Northern Sindh, 1
district in Balochistan & 2 districts in South Punjab were
selected for the village level assessment
 Findings
• Houses were constructed without foundations or improper
foundations
• There was no backfill or toe wall construction practice
• Thin walls construction with improper alignment
• Heavy roof screeds; practice of placing the new roof screeds on
regular bases & multiple thick mud layers over the roofs
• No ring beams placed by the communities to bear and distribute the
roof load uniformly onto the walls
• No roof projections been observed to save external part of the
shelter
• Fully mud shelters and partially mud shelters were dissolved under
stagnant water
• Shelters were constructed without proper designs, load calculations
• Heavy wooden beams and rafters were main cause of damages in
flood situations
• Untrained Masons
 HANDS Intervention
Considering the local context and practices, use of locally available
and indigenous construction material was ensured. Different
typologies of shelters were constructed including;
• Lime Stabilized Mud Structure
• Lime Stabilized Adobe Brick/ Block Structure
• Fired Brick Structure with Stabilized Mortars, Renders/
Plasters
• Loh Kath/ Wooden Structure with Stabilized Renders/ Plasters
• Chora Structure
• Stone Masonry Structure with Stabilized elements
• CC Block Structure
 Build Back Better
• Raised Floors: To protect shelter from floods, subject to the high
flood level of the area
• Backfill/ Toe Walls: To protect shelter from lateral water pressure/
thrust of water in floods situation
• Ring Beams: To avoid point load and to distribute the load of roof
uniformly onto the walls
• Roof Projections: To protect external renders from direct rains
• Low weight Gabbles: To protect shelter walls from risk of damages
due to exceed of heights
• Horizontal Bends: To distribute shelter walls into different parts so
that losses can be minimized and can be protected from EQ Shakes
• Use of Lime: To stabilize local soil subject to the field level soil testing
• Utilization of Local Flexible Materials: The risks of natural
disasters can be reduced by using natural materials
 Shelter for South Sindh
Loh Kath Shelter Model with Loh Kath Prototype
Stabilized Renders and Plasters Constructed in Thatta
 Shelter for Sindh and South
Punjab
Lime Stabilized Soil/ Mud Shelter Prototype Constructed in Tando
Allahyar
 Shelter for Northern Part of the
Country
Stone Masonry Shelter with CC Block Shelter with
Stabilized Mortars, Renders Stabilized Renders and Plasters
and Plasters
Specification Guideline
Level
• Depth
Foundation • Width
• Plinth
• Plinth Protection
• DPC
• Thickness
• Height of Wall
Wall • Door
• Window
• Lintel
• Lime Plaster
• Mortar
• Projection
Roof • Plastic Sheet
• Slop
• Lime Plaster
• Spacing of Bamboo/Tier
 Details of Shelters
• No of Shelter constructed 84,000
• Number of Project 41
• Number of Districts 30
• Total Amount Rs. 2.4 Billion
• The Per Shelter Cost varied depending on Projects, range from
minimum of Rs. 20,000.0 to maximum of Rs. 285,000.0
• The average/overall Per Shelter Cost was Rs.28,528.0
 Advantages of
Techniques
• Community Driven
• Construction process promote transferring of knowledge & climate
change adaptation
• Low Cost and affordable
• Each ORS incorporate vernacular construction practices improved
with DRR measures
• Construction period is greatly reduced
• These Materials substitute use of Cement
• Ensures natural bondage with soil
• ORS can also be expanded as per HHs requirements & needs
 Gender wise
Distribution
Gender-wise Distribution of Beneficiaries

Female,
Male,
48.50% 51.50%

Male Female
Characteristics of
Beneficiaries
Educational Status of Beneficiaries

Primary
9%

Middle
6%

Matric
7%
Illiterate Intermediate
63% 2%

Graduate
1%
Others
11% Master
0%
 Characteristics of
Beneficiaries
Vulnerability Criteria Percentage
Number of disabilities 7.6
Number of Pregnant Women 5.9
Lactating Women 14.8
Above 60 year 4.3
 Conclusions
• More than 50% success of shelter programs depends upon
the community acceptance, so shelter programs should be
beneficiary led
• Community engagement increases the transparency and
accountability among user and service provider
• Choice of beneficiaries is important, single choice of any
typology may create risk for ownership at user level
• Masson training is the key for replication of safer shelter
construction techniques
• Community acceptance prevails for climate change adaptation
techniques like DRR in shelter construction
• Natural materials design mixes can provide hydraulicity to that
structure which can survive in floods/ EQ
• Reuse of construction materials reduce the costs of shelters
• Use of Lime and other natural materials helps to reduce CO2
and promotes better living environments and good health
Thank You