Showing posts with label Sustainable development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sustainable development. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Fire safety!

Is your apartment/home fire safe?

Get trained in firefighting to ensure your family is safe. It is mandatory to have at least 40% of your apartment (especially if it is a high rise) to be trained. 

Before investing, make sure your building has all the required clearances, especially from the fire department and has enough setbacks, evacuation guidelines and so on.

Read the recent article about the noncompliance: 

While the Fire Department has given clearance certificate to only 821 high-rises, a far cry to the estimated 20,000 in the city, the regulatory authority seems to be at a loss regarding compliance of the norm.


Samskruti Builders #TheSamskrutiWay 


Tuesday, April 22, 2014

I was once called Earth





This beautiful little planet is home to numerous species who co-habit with us. Your small contribution is important to make it a better place and to ensure a safer, secure and sustainable future to your children.

As in the words of Garvit,

Will human ego sacrifice the world
To satiate its lust for pompous homes?
Will distant space look down on orb that’s bald.
I now can hear the mother say,
“I was once called Earth.
But now , bereft of mirth, I weep. 
That treeless orb’s no longer Earth”

#TheSamskrutiWay #BuildingSmartCommunities #EarthDay

Monday, April 7, 2014

Slow poisoning of India and why you should grow your own food


At Samskruti we emphasize on growing your own food and work towards sustainability of food, water and energy. Our designs facilitate a dedicated area for growing your own food using modern technologies to produce pesticide free healthy food.

I will recommend is to see an excellent documentary ‘The Slow Poisoning of India’ , a 26-minute documentary film directed by eminent Ramesh Menon and produced by the New Delhi-based The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). It deals with the dangers of excessive use of pesticide in conventional agriculture in India which is so rampant that people are eating a ‘cocktail’ of pesticides. India is one of the largest users of pesticide in Asia and also one of the largest manufactures.

The toxins have entered into the food chain and into our breakfast, lunch and dinner. The film showcases startling case studies from Kerala where villagers in Kasaragod district are paying a heavy price as it has been exposed to pesticide spraying for many years. It talks of the health impacts in other parts of India and also on how the magic of the green revolution in Punjab is fading as land and water bodies have been poisoned.


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Are we causing natural disasters with our actions?


Are we causing natural disasters with our actions? It seems so.
While we don't bother to save what nature provides us in its time, we rush to exploit the resources and choose to make the world a sad place for our kids. Do we have that right?

Some of the world's largest and most deadly recent earthquakes were not natural disasters at all but were caused by human activities such as mining, reservoir construction and oil and gas extraction, scientists say.

A global study of hundreds of quakes by Christian Klose, a consultant geophysicist, identified 92 large earthquakes likely to have been caused by humans.
Klose said that the Earth's crust is littered with geological faults under enormous tensions similar to those in a coiled spring.

When humans pile up vast masses of water or minerals on the surface, or extract them from beneath, the change in the weight of the overlying land can be enough to release that geological tension, causing an earthquake.

"The data specifically shows that human-made mass changes can advance the clock of natural seismic cycles and induce or trigger new earthquakes," said Klose.

According to the research, the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed 80,000 people, was triggered by the construction of the Zipingu reservoir.
In Britain, the 2007 Folkestone earthquake, which rocked southeast England and measured 4.3, was triggered by the millions of tonnes of shingle piled up to protect Folkestone harbour, 'The Times' reported.

The study said the 2011 earthquake in Lorca, southeast Spain was apparently triggered by water being extracted from underground reservoirs.

Another, with a magnitude of 5.6, hit Newcastle, Australia, in 1989; 13 people died and hundreds were injured. Klose linked this with the amount of coal extracted from nearby mines.
The research is published in the Journal of Seismology.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/humans-may-have-caused-worlds-worst-earthquakes/1207945/

Samskruti Builders

Sunday, December 1, 2013

How to reduce dust and noise in your apartments



I agree that mopping, cleaning regularly is a solution, but what else can you do to control noise and dust?

Dust, especially fine dust, causes allergies, breathing problems and other skin related discomforts. It is important to have systems to clean up the dust and prevent it from entering to your homes. The best way is to provide a plant cover and reduce the allergens in the air due to fine dust.

Green enveloping the building also would ensure noise mitigation, protection against the wind. Another great advantage is to control the radiation(either increase or decrease by choice and design).

Moreover it is common knowledge that most of the plants/trees take in Carbondioxide and release Oxygen. 

Write to us to share your views and ideas or to know more.

Speak to us to know more: 
     Call 99162 17777 
     Visit: www.samskruti.in
     Follow us on facebook for updates!




Friday, October 25, 2013

Harnessing solar power




One of the most underutilized and underrated solutions to the power crisis is depending on solar power.

At Samskruti, we have solar panels which are used to generate power to:

  1. Provide hot water to all taps
  2. To purify water
We also anticipate enough solar radiation to accommodate time-sharing of solar power.

Do you utilize solar power in your home?



Monday, May 20, 2013

Water problems!

DNA: Healthy pre-monsoon trends have indicated that Bangalore will have a good monsoon.

The city is expected to get more rain in the days to come, as part of the pre-monsoon showers before monsoon hits the city. Strong winds, an upper-air cyclonic circulation coupled with a low pressure area in the Arabian Sea, has set the perfect tempo for the monsoon to arrive in the city.

Speaking to dna, an official from the Bangalore meteorological centre said the city has had 89mm of rain so far in the pre-monsoon season and that another 29mm of rain is expected in the coming days.

“Bangalore’s normal pre-monsoon rainfall is expected at 118mm. We have had healthy pre-monsoon season and it has cooled the city sufficiently,” the official said.

The city is expected to receive 110mm of rainfall in May alone.

“This is because, as we approach monsoons, the pre-monsoon activity goes up and then dips. This is a regular phenomenon,” he said.

The Southwest monsoon is expected to be about three days late this year.

“Usually, monsoon hits the Kerala coast on June 1, but this year, the meteorology department has declared that it will arrive on June 3. All climatic conditions are healthy and monsoon should hit the city by June 7,” he said.

The temperature is also expected to go up by two degrees according to the department officials. “By the end of the month, we are expecting the temperatures to go up to 36° C,” he said.

Things are looking better on the water front, as the scenario  might improve in the coming days. Rain is expected to be normal in the catchment areas of the Cauvery, which supplies water to the city.

Normally, from March 1 to May 15, Mandya, where Krishnaraja Sagar is located, is expected to receive 99mm of rain, but it has already received 101mm.

In Kodagu, which is the upstream area for Cauvery river, there has been near-normal rainfall, and although the average pre-monsoon rain in this catchment area is 171mm and has received just 141mm so far, the met officials are confident of more rain in the coming days.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Hydrophonic Gardening explained!

In most of our projects, we are looking at using hydrophonic gardening to make efficient use of space, water and time! Here is a way to find out most of the info about hydrophonic gardening!


Monday, December 3, 2012

Water at Indus Valley!


Samskruti Indus Valley stands out as our special project as we have been able to achieve what many people dream of. From 1100 feet deep borewell about a year back, we could get water at less than 200 ft now! All this is due to rainwater harvesting.

You might ask, everybody these days is doing rainwater harvesting. What is different with your project?  Here are some of the points that differentiate Samskruti Builders from others.
  1. We planned, designed and developed the layout as a massive water collector and storm water retainer
  2. We have more than 220 wells(in phase 1 and about 450+ wells in phase 2) which perform a dual role: Hold water that is collected from the layout, replenish the ground water
  3. As all the wells are connected, water is retained at the same level in all the wells
We are planning efficient systems to reduce, recycle and reuse most of the water in the property and making it a sustainable endeavour. Apart from appreciating the value of the project, we also believe this goes a long way in promoting sustainable and responsible living.

A couple of good rains and we have enough and more water at our natural stream. Here is a before-and-after-photograph. (click to enlarge).

Speak to us to know more: Call 99162 17777
visit us: www.samskruti.in
Follow us on facebook for updates!



Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Bamboo magic

Elora Hardy had it all as a designer working for Donna Karan in New York, with her prints walking the world's runways. She left it all to return to Bali and build a sustainable construction company. Hardy builds visually stunning homes out of bamboo, fantasy abodes that look derived from Hollywood movie sets.

 In this striking talk, Hardy explains the versatility and durability of bamboo, and convinces us all to become advocates of bamboo as the choice building material for construction in the tropics.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Sustainability and the Mahatma

Found this on TriplePundit.com.

There are some sharp parallels between Gandhian philosophies and the sustainability movement.

Localism

Gandhi was a strong proponent of localism, be it food, clothing or anything else. At the time of Indian Independence, he recognized that Indians were being enslaved by their dependence on British products, especially clothing. This not only stripped Indian farmers, yarn dyers and indigo growers of their jobs but also financed the British empire. His solution was for people to spin their own cloth and wear only Indian made clothing. He believed that locally produced yarn would give people their pride and their livelihoods back.

In Gandhi’s ashram, he grew his own vegetables and kept goats for their milk, demonstrating the need to cut down our dependence on  global supply chains and cheap labor. He also had supreme respect for local knowledge when it came to agriculture, calling India “a collection of 700,000 villages” — this for the most part still holds true, but local knowledge everywhere is fast being usurped by optimization technology.

Sustainability will come a full circle only when local knowledge is recognized and given its due importance. Gandhi recognized back then that outsourcing jobs can only create a viable economy in the short-term and sooner or later the bubble will burst. I believe we are now in the reverse-globalization era and its implication for sustainability are numerous.

Austerity

In this age of consumerism and creature comforts, austerity is a concept that is often not even comprehended. Living a simple life has it benefits because it keeps you focused on your purpose. His “simple living and high thinking” philosophy is what sustainability is all about.

Civil resistance 

Gandhi’s non-violent, civil resistance movement is very much like sustainable consumption. By simply standing up to atrocities, Indians everywhere came together. Consumers everywhere, similarly need to stand up against those companies that are not ethical and stop endorsing their products.

“Poverty is the worst form of violence”

Gandhi recognized that poverty is the root of all ills and the reason why progress cannot be made. He said that unless peoples’ bellies are filled, there is no way their minds can be filled. The world faces the same struggle today and although sustainability is a way out of poverty, poverty is also a deterrent towards sustainable development.

Consolidated, joint effort 

Indian freedom was not won overnight. It started with the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 and ended in 1947 – it took over a century of resistance and turmoil before the freedom revolution saw fruition. The sustainability movement is pretty similar – it is very young and needs a tremendous amount of momentum for it to become a revolution. If the Occupy Movement and 350.org are anything to go by, we are getting there and the tipping point is well in sight.

Humility and hope

This is especially for sustainability practitioners. This line of work requires vast amounts of both humility and hope. One can never rest on laurels of past achievements and similarly one cannot also be without hope. As the field continues to evolve, so must practitioners

“Be the change you want to see in the world”

This is probably one of my favourite quotes by the Mahatma. It implies individual responsibility, accountability, and resourcefulness. To be the change, whether big or small requires grit and gumption and the most miraculous thing is that it can come from anywhere.

Picture is from here.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Go outside!


Found this picture on facebook. Computer games can never give you what a real game can. More than the physical activity, sports help in developing behavioural skills, people management and develop mental health.


Encourage your children to play outside and spend time with people than online entities.

Samskruti Builders

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

5 cluster towns to decongest Bangalore

TOI: The government is getting its act together to get the pressure off Bangalore by developing towns on the city's periphery and connecting them via expressways.

The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation ( KIUDFC) has proposed to develop about 8,005 sq km area coming under the jurisdiction of Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) as a "city cluster development project".

"BMRDA has planned to set up five satellite townships and develop them as self-sustainable cities. The state government had approved a BMRDA proposal in this regard in June 2006," said Suresh Kumar, minister of law and urban development department.

The proposal is now before the Centre for its approval.

Under the city cluster development project, Bidadi (in Ramnagara taluk) will be developed as Knowledge City. Ramanagara will be developed as Healthcare city, Sathanur in Kanakapura taluk will be developed as Textile/Apparel city, Solur in Magadi taluk will be a Manufacturing city and Nandagudi in Hoskote will come up as Hardware/Manufacturing city. These five towns around Bangalore will be connected to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) of Bangalore through four-lane expressways.

Nandagudi, a Hardware or Manufacturing City?

Re-orienting the growth of Bangalore, the State government will now focus its efforts on developing the City’s western and southern suburbs.

A concept note prepared by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) states: “Some of the developments, especially the establishment of the international airport at Devanahalli, would put a number of urban settlements such as Nelamangala, Doddaballapur, Vijayapura, Hoskote and Malur, on the path of rapid development, especially on  the completion of the proposed peripheral road. With the exception of Nelamangala, the other centres are in ground water deficit areas.”

Future growth

As a result, the “future growth” of Bangalore, according to KUIDFC, “should logically be re-oriented towards the west and the south, rather than continue the past trend of development toward the east and the north”.
So, the KUIDFC will now embark on developing ‘cluster cities’ around Bangalore. In the wake of these plans, the authorities are mulling over construction of seven outer ring roads (ORR) around seven towns on the outskirts of the City.

According to Suresh Kumar, Minister for Urban Development, the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority has been authorised to submit a proposal to build the seven ring roads to facilitate the growth of the cities listed under the project.
The project will cover the towns of Kanakapura, Anekal, Hoskote, Devanahalli, Magadi, Nelamangala and Ramanagara.

Four-lane roads


All the proposed roads will be four lane. Asked whether these roads will be interconnected, Kumar said: “The roads will eventually be connected to the NICE or the Peripheral Ring Road when required.”

“The basic idea is to ensure that the commuter traffic need not enter these towns to reach their destinations. The ORRs will help in bypassing these cities which can become the hubs of various industries,” said Kumar.

The roads have been envisaged after the State government proposed to create hubs in these taluks for various purposes and develop the cluster cities.

As per the proposal, Bidadi is proposed to be developed as a Knowledge City,  Ramanagara a Healthcare City, Sathanur in Kanakapura taluk Textile/Apparel City, Solur in Magadi a Manufacturing City and Nandagudi in Hoskote a Hardware or Manufacturing City.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Water: The blue gold



Water is being called the "Blue Gold" of the 21st century. Thanks to increasing urbanization and population, shifting climates and industrial pollution, fresh water is becoming humanity's most precious resource.

Conserve | Reduce | Recycle #the_samskruti_way


At Samskruti, we respect and treat water as the most important resource and we ensure maximum saving and restoring the balance by providing low usage outlets, efficient designs to collect and store rainwater, recycle water, etc.

Follow us on facebook here to know more.





Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Technology as a facilitator



Technology in Samskruti Maurya is a good facilitator. With smart meters to gauge and monitor usage of water, power, gas and to ensure smooth functioning, most of the components are designed to be automatic.

Tele-presence ensures you are connected to the rest of the world with your dear ones and intense organic farming, water conserving systems, solar panels and the specifications aimed at ensuring less usage and maximum productivity, Samskruti Maurya explores the definition of a self-sustained-smart-community.
At Samskruti, all our properties are designed to have an easy access and control using technology.

Follow us on facebook here to know more.


Saturday, July 14, 2012

Gerrit Botha's 15 ways to reduce food costs

Found this beautiful article to reduce food costs. A must read.

How’s your monthly food bill? Is it sustainable? We’re a family of five on a limited budget from a single income, so we are hawks on food costs. And we’re living in a world of increasing food insecurity, so that it becomes more and more important to consider how we obtain our food and at what price.
  1. We keep a whiteboard on the fridge and as we run out of things, we put it on the board. This is the basis of that weeks grocery list and we don't buy things that are not on the list
  2. We look at the sale flyers from the newspaper for the items we use and are out of to make up the grocery list and we clip coupons
  3. We make up the grocery list by aisle
  4. We try to stay to the exterior of the grocery store, where we buy diary, fresh fruit and veggies, frozen vegetables in bulk. Instead of bread we buy the flour, and now the wheat to mill, and make our own bread
  5. And we stay away from the processed food and the junk food aisles
  6. We don’t buy anything with pretty labels, we buy the no name brands in large quantities
  7. We make stuff: we make our own pasta for example
  8. We eat vegetarian: it's amazing to bypass an entire aisle
  9. We buy strawberries and other fruits pears, blueberry, currants in season and make jam
  10. When tomatoes are in season we buy bucketfuls of plum tomatoes and can them. We make salsa, spaghetti sauce, and tomato chili
  11. We use a big chest freezer to store food
  12. We grow anything we can, even in containers. This past summer we accidentally grew a squash in a container full of marigolds
  13. We pickle cucumbers, beets, carrots and beans
  14. We make cucumber and other relishes
  15. Oh, and we eat out very rarely
Food security is such a big topic and we'll come back to it regularly. But it is important to start somewhere and this is our start. We have a long way to go and much more to do. I'd be very interested in what others are doing to keep food costs under control.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Teach every child about food


 

It is important to teach your kids where food comes from. At Samskruti, we facilitate this by ensuring accessibility to a garden where you can grow and show your children about the food they eat. This teaches, respect, knowledge and help children eat more vegetables and is therapeutic too.

Ask our team for more details on the terrace gardens, roof top gardens and living spaces that are designed to bring ancient customs, traditions and values back to our concrete jailed lives.

Subscribe to our facebook page here for more updates: http://www.facebook.com/Samskruti.in