Auto driver lifts his house by 4 feet

Every monsoon, Riyaz, an autorickshaw driver from Bantwal taluk, would see his house inundated with flood waters. He decided to combat this by lifting his house by four feet thereby preventing water from entering his home.

He was inspired to do this after watching a video of jacking the house on social media. After learning more about it, he contacted Hari Om Shiva Housing Lifting and Shifting Construction Pvt Ltd.

Riyaz vacated the house on August 14 and the work on lifting the house began on August 29. The company has so far lifted the 1,000-square- foot house by three feet using powerful jacks. The work is expected to be completed within a week. On the whole, 82 jacks will be used for the purpose.

“To rebuild a new house, I would have to shell out about Rs 15 lakh. Now, I have spent just Rs 5 lakh. While lifting the house, a new foundation is constructed to give strength to the house from the base with four loads of laterite stones, cement, sand and soil. We built the house nine years ago. Flood water had entered the house thrice during this season. I spoke to the firm and made an agreement to raise the foundation of my house. My brother's house will also be lifted,” he says.

Gogran Singh, supervisor, Hari Om Shiva House Lifting and Shifting Construction Pvt Ltd said, “We are taking up the work for the first time in Karnataka. We are now getting calls from different parts of Mangaluru. We have been using the technology to lift houses in Delhi, Kerala, Assam, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and other areas. We have around 2,000 skilled labourers for the work.”