TOWARDS THE RECONSTRUCTION OF BAM
 

Along with other rehabilitation projects run in Bam, since the month of May 2004, IBC is running a Safe Building Project which consists in the introduction of the compressed interlocking earthen blocks, building technology used successfully by IBC partner – CRS – for the construction of 3.000 houses for the victims of the earthquake in Gujarat / India. During the project there were trained 29 masons, for working with Aureka special blocks machines (broth from India to Bam), under the supervision of 2 Indian specialists (Architect Mehul Savla and Engineer Kiran Joshi). Also there was started the construction of two demonstration houses in Bam, one at the exhibition site of the Housing Foundation – the lead institution on reconstruction of Bam, and one in the city of Bam.

Iranian Minister of Housing and officials are visiting IBC-CRS sample construction techniques site

IBC and CRS are introducing the earthquake proof contruction system in Bam-Iran


The IBC – CRS building at the exhibition site is now at the stage of walling. Next to it there was built a demonstration wall and there was broth a block machine (shifted from the production site in Basravat), for possible demonstrations on the site, and also there will be installed a billboard for the advertisement of the technology (billboard required for all the demo houses built in the Housing Foundation's site).
Housing Foundations' exhibition consists in a construction site, where different approved technologies are demonstrated. The houses exhibited are planned to be "consultancy offices" for the beneficiaries – the victims of the earthquake in Bam. People will have the possibility to choose the design and technology and ask for assistance in reconstruction of their own house. There are for now only 4 private companies building demo houses in the HF exhibition site and only 2 NGOs, which are IBC and Peace Winds, using earthen technologies.

 

 

On the 18 th of September 2004, at the Housing Foundation's exhibition site in Bam, took place the opening festivity and Governmental official visits. After the festive opening, the Minister of Housing - Mr. Abdulalizadeh , the head of Housing Foundation in Teheran – Mr.Saeedikiya and Bam – Mr.Mahmoodi and other governmental officials visited some of the constructions in the exhibition site (only 3 constructions were visited, one of them being IBC - CRS's “earthen interlocking compressed blocks” demonstration house). The minister and his delegation were explained about the process and they had questions about the technology and the future possibility of implementation.

Both our production site in Baravat and the demonstration building at the exhibition site are visited regularly by different experts, companies and NGOs. Important visits were those paid by Mr.Saeedikiya (the head of the Housing Foundation of Iran, from Teheran), Mr.Alavi (head of the Task Force), the Governor of Baravat, the Mayor of Baravat, the Ayatollah of Baravat, Bam Housing Foundation's experts, the representatives of the Governorate of Kerman, UNDP representatives, UNDP technical workshop's participants - engineers, architects which are going to be involved in the reconstruction of Bam, national television, international NGOs (like Caritas network, Medair, SDC etc.).

Ana Oprisan - coordinator of the relief field team in Bam / Iran
International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation - Turkey
Bam city (earthquake area), Iran
Office: Camp Isfahan 1, Bam
Mobile: 0098 912 380 45 32
Satelite phone: 0088 216 611 00 446
E.mail: ana@bluecrescent.net , alianais@hotmail.com
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Member of the IRSN - ISTANBUL ROMANI STUDIES NETWORK
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MA Student in Political and Social Sciences
MARMARA UNIVERSITY - ISTANBUL / TURKEY
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Mobile Turkey: 0090 536 57 55 671

 
Added: 20/09/2004