‘Hassle-free system will reduce cost of building houses’

“We have destroyed what is priceless. It would be no surprise if the next generation inherits a earth sans birds, animals or plants. It is the legacy what we leave to our children. Children should become ambassadors for any movement and adopt what is right, only then can Earth be preserved,” said founder of Spectral Service Consultants Prem C Jain after releasing a technical volume of Buildtech at NIE indoor stadium here on Saturday.

Addressing the inaugural function of the international seminar ‘Greenstruct — Mechanise Towards Sustainability’, as part of the 25th All India Builders’ Convention, he said, “River Ganga, which we worship, is now a sewage. It’s the result of 50 years of industrial revolution. But no one seems to worry about it. There is a need to unite to initiate a green movement.”

Prem C Jain, who works on designing energy efficient buildings, said, “Let us go for green buildings, which is not only a legacy but attracts better clients and good business. It’s the zeal and patience, which is needed for green structures to be built. Till now one billion sq feet has been registered for green buildings.”

He recalled his visits to Mysore — two times, once during his childhood days and the other as a student of Banaras University during Dasara. He was glad that Mysore had retained its heritage and culture.

President of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations’ of India (CREDAI) Lalit Kumar Jain said, even though builders were the second largest employers in the country, they were not consulted by the government regarding employment issues.

Victims of situation

“The simple name ‘builder’ makes the entire community untouchable and humiliated. We must make them realise that we are not culprits but victims of the situation,” he added.

“Civil engineers, builders, architects are all creative people, but we lose a lot of time in getting our plans sanctioned by the authorities concerned. The approval system consumes 40 per cent of the construction cost. We can provide homes at lesser costs if the system becomes hassle-free,” he said.

Urging BAI to adopt transparency, he said: “Transparency has become an issue of debate in India. Our country lacks focus on urban development. Let us concentrate on a respectable organic development.”

Award

Chandrashekar Hariharan, an economist turned eco-entrepreneur, was honoured for his research on green buildings. National president of BAI Cherian Varkey, chairman of organising committee N S Muralidhara, convention chairman B R Badrinath,vice-president of BAI J R Sethuramalingam, chairman of BAI Mysore centre T N Hemanth and vice-president of L&T S N Subramanyam were present.

Earlier during the day at BAI centre of Mysore, Lalit Kumar Jain unveiled the new logo for CREDAI.