On 26 January 2001, the early morning calm over the Kutch locale of Gujarat was smashed by one of India’s most obliterating seismic tremors. With a greatness of 7.7, and its epicenter close Chaubari town in Bhachau taluka, the quake’s constrain was extraordinary — disastrous sufficient to devastate over 90% of homes in Kutch, and claiming 13,805 lives, agreeing to the National Established of Calamity Administration.
The region’s physical and passionate scene was cleared out scarred, but in the repercussions, a capable change unfurled. Whereas the devastation was uncommon, what came another — a community-led restoration established in conventional intelligence — has ended up a persevering demonstration of versatility. At the heart of this restoration lies a straightforward, antiquated frame of staying: the bhunga.
From Demolish to Rediscovery: Why Bhungas Matter
Before 2001, urban and country Kutch was enchanted with advanced development. Brick, cement, and fortified concrete (RCC) structures were rising over cities like Bhuj, Rapar, Anjar and Bhachau. However when the seismic tremor struck, much of this advanced design collapsed like card houses.
To differentiate, conventional circular bhunga homes — built by nearby communities long some time recently engineers considered seismic plans — stood their ground. Made fundamentally of mud, dairy animals waste, bamboo and settled soil, these circular structures were not as intact but fundamentally sound after the tremors died down.
This difference raised questions: Why did these humble homes survive when cutting edge buildings fizzled? Bits of knowledge from planners and specialists point to the natural seismic steadiness of circular plan — where shaking ground vitality is diffused around the edge, or maybe than concentrating push at corners. As modeler Sandeep Virmani clarifies, in a square or rectangular structure, sidelong development causes breaks at corners that develop and lead to collapse. In a circular structure, seismic vitality voyages around the dividers and disseminates into the ground tenderly.
Bhungas: A Conventional Frame with Cutting edge Benefits
The bhunga is more than a seismic antique — it is an all encompassing climate-adapted staying. Verifiably, they culminated after a prior catastrophe, the 1819 seismic tremor in the Rann of Kutch, which reshaped the nearby geology and instructed communities that circular, humble homes stood firm through winds, sandstorms and regular extremes.
Unlike RCC homes, bhungas provide:
Seismic strength: Circular shells that diffuse shaking.
Wind resistance: Streamlined ebb and flow makes a difference withstand high-velocity cyclonic winds.
Climate versatility: Thick earthen dividers keep contributing cool in extraordinary leaves warm and warm amid winter chills.
This combination of flexibility, supportability and neighborhood fabric utilizes the bhunga mode of development and perfect illustration of innate fiasco adjustment. It reflects the profound engineering insights created by eras of pastoralist communities like the Meghwals, whose creativity and craftsmanship are carved into each bend and divider.
Rehabilitation and Restoration: Community at the Centre
The momentous survival of bhungas drove a thin effort to reintroduce them amid the region’s rehabilitation.
Right after the tremor, neighborhood associations like Kutch Nav Nirman Abhiyan — shaped initially in 1998 — started work on revamping with a center on biological recreation and feasible engineering. By 2003, this collective advanced into Hunnarshala, an association committed to environmental and conventional building homes.
With backing from the Gujarat State Catastrophe Administration Specialist (GSDMA) and specialized inputs from specialists counting the late Dr A.S. Arya Hunnarshala created formal rules for bhunga development — mixing conventional procedures with present day enhancements to improve solidity.
Critically, artisans from the nearby Meghwal community were locked in as ace builders. Together with designers and engineers, they refined the bhunga fashion — for example, supplanting cover with octagonal tiled rooftops and utilizing settled soil paints created by neighborhood ladies. Each bhunga was built on a stone plinth, upgrading solidity against seismic waves.
One of the standout accomplishments of this activity was the work of the Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS), which built roughly 2,000 bhungas for 1,200 families in the Banni Pacham region. Numerous of these semi-nomadic pastoralist families were transitioning absent from their versatile tents toward more changeless, versatile homes.
More Than Protect: Financial and Social Revival
The bhunga renaissance didn’t halt at lodging. The bhunga plan became a social and financial asset.
International bodies like the Joined together Countries Improvement Program (UNDP) perceived its potential and collaborated with neighborhood pioneers to advance community-run town tourism. One striking venture was Shaam-e-Sarhad in Hodka, where conventional bhungas were adjusted into visitor lodging, creating unused job openings for artisans included in woodwork, finish, cover and reflect craftsmanship.
Even the yearly Rann Utsav, Gujarat’s prevalent winter celebration, presently highlights hundreds of bhunga-style structures at the Tent City, advertising sightseers a versatile and socially immersive encounter.
Women have played a fundamental part in this restoration. From sorting out plan adjustments to keeping development measures adjusted with community needs, women’s inclusion guaranteed that bhungas remained useful without depleting time or work from conventional creations like lippan — the famous mud and reflecting craftsmanship that enhances contribution.
Beyond Kutch: Affecting Maintainable Architecture
The victory of the bhunga show in Kutch has propelled more extensive structural intrigue. Associations like Hunnarshala presently archive different earthquake-resilient conventional designs over India — counting Himalayan styles — highlighting the potential of inborn information to illuminate advanced hone.
In a world progressively centered on climate change, low-carbon innovations and disaster-resilient lodging, bhungas speak to more than wistfulness. They are living illustrations of economical plans that originate before — and outflanks — numerous present day choices in extraordinary conditions.
Looking Ahead: Protecting Information for Future Challenges
Twenty-five a long time on, Kutch sits in Seismic Zone V — India’s most elevated risk category, where tremors stay a proceeding danger. However today’s communities are superiorly arranged. The seismic observing arrangement in Gujarat has extended drastically since 2001, making strides in calamity reaction, whereas endeavors to preserve legacy and teach future builders proceed to develop.
As climate extremes and seismic tremors undermine defenseless districts around the world, the story of Kutch’s bhungas offers trust — not fair for building more grounded homes, but for sustaining versatile communities established in culture, collaboration, and regard for genealogical shrewdness.
Jhala Nidhiba
This article was written by Jhala Nidhiba
