Article 25 were approached by the international NGO Muslim Aid after the devastating Pakistani earthquake of 2005, to develop earthquake resistant building designs and lead workshops that would enable local people to take part in the rebuilding projects.  These workshops illustrated how communities can rebuild safely using a small amount of aid and their reclaimed building materials. In addition, we were appointed to assist with the design and construction of seismic resistant houses for the most vulnerable members of the community who are not able to re-build themselves.

After a sucessful visit in December 2006, Muslim Aid invited Article 25 to develop designs for 300 houses. The beneficiaries of these houses were selected through community consultation on the basis of vulnerability. Preference was given to widows with minor children, those unable to work as a result of a disability, those unable to work as a result of age, and the poorest as identified by the community.

A team was sent out in January 2007 to assess conditions on the ground and to begin training local people and NGO workers about seismic mitigation techniques. Our team developed a number of building designs for new homes, all using simple seismic mitigation techniques, to reduce the risk of damage in the event of a further earthquake.

The process of construction began with the creation of a number of prototype houses in the two selected villages, using either blockwork or timber to test the pros and cons of each option with regard to cost and constructability. A second Article 25 team visited the sites in late July to asses the construction of the prototype houses. At this point it was decided to discontinue further construction in blockwork for the following reasons:

• concrete block proved to be prohibitively expensive;
• given the variable ground conditions at each plot, a heavier deadload of blockwork construction (as opposed to timber) was judged by the Muslim Aid engineering team to be less favourable than timber and infill;
• difficult access routes to sites some distance from the road meant that transportation of heavy blocks was unfeasible;
• beneficiaries are able to provide timber from pre-earthquake housing to be reused in the new houses, which cuts down the material cost.

location:

Bagh in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Jareed in North West Frontier Province, Pakistan.

partner:

Muslim Aid, a UK-based international relief and development organization, working in partnership with local community-based groups.

This complex project has required close collaboration between all parties to ensure that the standards for seismic resistant construction, as set out by the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), are achieved.

budget:

Rs290,000 per house

timeline:

Article 25 designed and facilitated the building of over around 80 prototype seismic-resistant houses in the areas devastated by the earthquake. The local community continued to build further homes after our departure, testament to the effective training of community members as part of the project programming.

problem addressed:

On the morning of October 8, 2005 the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Pakistani administered state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in Northern Pakistan were devastated by a tremendous earthquake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale. Over 73,000 people perished and an estimated 3.3 million were left homeless in Pakistan alone. These  deaths were not caused by the earthquake itself, but by buildings collapsing so quickly that people were not able to escape in time. Even though the region is prone to earthquakes and seismic activity, the houses built and rebuilt after these events invariably contain no seismic mitigation techniques.