Samskruti Hoysala Concept

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Smart sprinkler

Installing a smart sprinkler controller that adjusts watering based on weather, soil type, amount of shade and plant type can save water.

Organic gardening

Samskruti Indus Valley

Samskruti Indus Valley derives its name from world's earliest urban civilizations. Like Indus Valley civilization, we at Samskruti, believe in living with in consistence with the nature. Samskruti Indus Valley offers eco-friendly residential plots

To see the development in Phase I and most recent pictures, click here: https://picasaweb.google.com/108136643320625464867/IndusValley?authkey=Gv1sRgCPS6xpf3uvbM1gE

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The water cycle

Roof-top garden

"What is a roof-top garden?"


"Please come here and look at this model here. You can have a small garden on your roof. You could grow some vegetable plants, fruits and creepers here."

This is how discussions at our office go. If there is a lady, then she would ask some more questions about the type of soil, plants she could grow and so on. If it is a gentleman, he would like to know if water will seep, will the garden increase the weight on the ceiling and so on. But people appreciate the concept.


Rooftop gardens can also help absorb heat and act as insulators, reducing the energy needed for cooling or heating; provide low-cost food and also a refuge for bird, bees and insects. These benefits are clearly transferable to your locality and urban agriculture can play an important role in strengthening the resilience of cities and their populations against the impacts of climate change. According to the UN Population Fund, about half the world population already lives in urban areas with the number expected to reach some five billion by 2030.

Being able to supply their own fruit and vegetables is clearly an advantage in a time of food scarcity and rising prices. And it’s also not impossible. Hong Kong and Singapore, for example, both produce more than 20% of their meat and vegetables within the city limits. As well as the environmental and economic benefits, rooftop gardens also bring a much needed splash of colour to our rather grey concrete jungles so lets get gardening!

All the villas in Samskruti Maurya have access to a small garden, most of them being roof-top. Only the ones who experienced it will know the joy of eating something from your own garden. It not just tastes better but also is an healthier and smarter choice. If you could grow only 5-10 kgs of vegetables depending on the space you have after allocating a small space for the good old Tulsi, you could still save around 700-1000 rupees a month.

What do you think?

Every tree counts!

A tree absorbs about 1 ton of CO2 and reduces the micro temperature to keep your neighbourhood cool. Don't cut down trees unnecessarily.

Pic is from here.

What are you breathing?

I stay in BTM, very close to the lake and feel that it is relatively less polluted from other areas in Bangalore. Guess what I found out today! BTM and outer ring road area is among the top five most polluted areas in Bangalore! Not a good ranking to top.

In January this year, the RSPM count in Whitefield stood at 100 microgram per cubic metre, while it was a mere 38 in Basaveshwaranagar.

In fact, the RSPM count has always hovered above 100 in Whitefield in the past five years. But the scene is not all that bad. The Suphur Dioxide (SO2) and Nitrous Oxide (NO) levels have not crossed the permissible figure in the area.

In January this year, RSPM count for Whitefield was recorded at 100 microgram per cubic metre, while the sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide count were recorded at 17.7 and 30.6 microgram per cubic metre, respectively.

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Lessons from Indus Valley

I am student of history, especially ancient Indian history. Our ancient religious texts and epics give a good insight into the water storage and conservation systems that prevailed in those days. To transport water to distant places there were underground pipes and tunnels made. Over the years the rising populations, growing industrialization and expecting agriculture have pushed upon the demand for water. Efforts have been made to collect water by building dams and reservoirs and digging wells; some countries have also tried to recycle and desalinate (remove salts) water. Water conservation has become the need of the day. The idea of ground water recharging by harvesting rainwater is gaining importance in many cities.

Over 5000 years ago during the Indus Valley civilization urban water supply and sewage was one of the most sophisticated systems in the world. At both Mohenjodaro and Harappa there were covered drains running beneath the streets. To store water each fort had its own storage system like ponds, wells, tanks, etc. which still exists.

At Samskruti Indus Valley, we try to replicate the knowledge from the ancient Indus Valley and have tried few of the strategies to help in water conservation. We have efficiently laid out undergroud pipes and tunnels to collect, store and save water. This means byu the time you buy the plot, you already have water facilities in plug-n-play mode.

What do we stand to gain?

• Rainwater as resource
• Result - holding and percolating 30 Lakh litres on a rainy day
• Recycled water for gardening – 5 Crore litres of water per year
• 1 Crore litres of water in the reservoir

Now isn't that smart?

Bangalore & Rain Water Harvesting

According to a study conducted by the Centre for Symbiosis of Technology, Environment and Management (STEM), a Bangalore based research group, the demand supply gap is met by groundwater exploitation. It is estimated that 40 per cent of the population is dependent on groundwater, whereas the remaining part is pumped from the Cauvery river through a distance of 95 kilometres and a head of 1000 metres.

Bangalore receives 970 mm rainfall annually and the number of rainy days is 59.8. Highest amount of rainfall is received during April to November, while the rest of the months receive scanty rainfall. Peak runoff is 50 millimeters per hour. Due to the availability of rainwater throughout the year, water is basically stored in these rainwater harvesting systems and used for non-potable purposes. Water from the rooftops is led into storage structures. First flushing is normally done by providing an extra length of pipe to collect the polluted 2.5 mm of rainfall. Filters are made of sponge and a mixture of sand, gravel and charcoal. After first flushing and filtration water is led into under ground sumps (which are very common in Bangalore) or to a new storage tank.

The overflow from this tank is taken to an open well to recharge the aquifer.The geological formations are predominantly granite and granitic gneiss, with joints and fractures in abundance due to intense chemical weathering of rocks. The depth of weathering varies from 0.2 m to 20 m. This geological set-up offers an immense scope for recharging of ground aquifers.

The undulating terrain with gentle slopes draining into lakes offer an ideal situation for water harvesting. In the urban area of Bangalore waterbodies cover about 5 per cent of land. A study made by the Centre for Ecological Studies and Indian Institute of Sciences revealed that out of 262 lakes in 1960 only 82 exist now of which less than 10 have water.

Potential of rainwater harvesting

Name of City	Proposed area for 2011(category and area in Sq km)	Annual water harvesting potential in billion litres
		100 per cent harvesting	50 per cent harvesting
Bangalore	Development area 597.0	579.10	289.55
	Green Belt 682.0	661.54	330.77
	Total area 1279	1240.64	620.32

Notes: Average annual Rainfall = In mm 970; Annual demand-supply gap 49.28 billion litres
Source: A conceptual frame for rainwater harvesting in Bangalore, STEM, 2001

Water woes in Bangalore

With a population of 5,686,000, Bangalore is India's fifth largest city. As per the estimates of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the total demand of water is 840 million litres per day (MLD). Bangalore is prominent among the World’s fastest growing cities. Due to unorganized and un-scientific growth over the last few years drinking water problem has crossed danger limits.

Bangalore gets water from three main sources. Major source among them is Kaveri River. Everyday around 810 MLD kaveri water is channeled to Bangalore. This journey of water over 120 Km, costs nearly 500 crore rupees per year for electricity alone. The other two sources for water are T.G.Halli Tank and Underground Water Resource. Around 120 MLD from T.G.Halli and 50 MLD from underground water resource is used up by Bangalore everyday. Of later however, T.G.Halli water has considerably reduced and the chances of complete drying up of resource are foreseen. According to a study conducted by the Centre for Symbiosis of Technology, Environment and Management (STEM), a Bangalore-based research group, the demand supply gap is met by groundwater exploitation. It is estimated that 40 per cent of the population of Bangalore is dependent on groundwater. 

Source: My Bangalore

Samskruti Builders

Established in 2006, Samskruti Builders was founded by a group of likeminded individuals. We believe that the way to a brighter future is through resource conservation, recycling & regeneration.

Samskruti Maurya has been designed by renowned architect Ravindra Kumar, the principal architect of Pragrup Architects-a well known architectural firm in Bangalore.

Samskruti Builders has partenered with McDBerl, a sustainability and engineering consultancy services company, in order to build a green community.

The landscaping for Samskruti Maurya has been designed by P.T.Wijaya Tribwana International. Wijaya has 25 years of combined work experience in over 700 hotels, luxury residences and apartments across south east Asia & India.

Wipro EcoEnergy, the renewable energy services arm of Wipro, is responsible for all renewable/alternative energy needs at Samskruti Maurya.

Start with a prayer!

It is Sunday morning and I am sitting at my desk at work. April is round the corner and we have a lot of work to do at Samskruti. We are planning something exiting, something big and something that would make you think about what is around you. We are planning to gift you happiness! How are we going to do that?

Coming April, we are plannig to spend time with all our clients and their families by inviting them to our Indus Valley project and spend a day with us. This is going to be the first of several meetings in future to promote bonding, community and team spirit among the co-residents of the project. Not just that this is going to be a day of fun. While it is too early to let the cat out of the bag, I would like to give you a heads up about what's in store.

If you think you could help us plan something good and have a concept, please feel free to share.

“Prajápatye Kasyapáya déváya namah.
Sadá Sítá medhyatám déví bíjéshu cha
dhanéshu cha. Chandaváta hé." 

“Salutation to God Prajápati Kasyapa. Agriculture may always flourish and the Goddess (may reside) in seeds and wealth. Channdavata he."  

Watch this space for more action. You can also follow us on facebook!

Eco friendly homes