A step further to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project ‘Adarsh Gram Yojana’ or Model Village, a Gujarat-based NGO called National Council for Civil liberties (NCCl) has launched an interesting project to convert a picturesque village in north Gujarat.
Through the ambitious project 'Rainbow Hills', NCCl will modernise houses of a small hamlet Vanaj, situated in Vijaynagar tehsil of the Sabarkantha district. “The aim of the project is to provide basic amenities to the poor villagers without disturbing their lifestyle, traditions and surroundings. The villagers will also be guided to rent out one room in these neatly repaired and re-constructed houses to the tourists interested in eco-tourism, which will generate income for them,” said NCCl president VK Saxena.
NCCl conducted a detailed survey before starting the re-construction and the repairing work of the houses owned by the tribal people. The village is situated on a small hillock facing a huge picturesque lake. “We have selected those houses constructed by members of tribal community using mud for walls and local wood for ceiling. Most of these houses were in dilapidated and unhygienic condition,” said Saxena, adding that NCCl will give practical solution to improve living standards of the villagers.
On Sunday, the re-construction work started with a ‘Puja’ ceremony. According to him, NCCl would repair walls and roofs using cement and cement sheet to protect the houses from rain and heat. “We will also put roofing tiles on the ceilings as well as construct toilets for the safety and self-esteem of tribal women. The re-construction work will be done in such a manner that the cultural identity of the tribal people would remain intact,” he said.
NCCl will arrange cleaning of surrounding areas with the help of local people of the selected houses and will guide them to maintain clean and hygienic surroundings and, also stop the usage of plastic products which cause maximum damage to the environment. The cost of the 'Rainbow Hills' project will be borne by NCCl.
"We are eager to attract tourists in our village by offering them a neat and a clean environment. Hopefully it would increase income level of the villagers and ultimately our life would improve," said Ashwinbhai, a member of tribal community and resident of Vanaj, whose house is also being repaired under the project.
NCCl is a non-profitable multidimensional social organisation which has actively participated in issues pertaining to public and national interest and has always remained in the forefront in raising issues against self-appointed environmentalists and institutions to prevent perpetration of injustice.
In the past, the NGO had successfully implemented a unique practical, positive and participatory project, ‘Mission ENDURE’, in Ahmedabad city in association with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), to reduce dust pollution by constructing footpaths from pre-cast cement concrete blocks.