THE PEOPLE

HOUSES AND HOUSING

A house is one of the indices of the cultural development of any section of society. Economic considerations weighed against better housing in the past. Houses of the majority of the people and especially those of the peasants, craftsmen and labourers were merely dwellings providing shelter against the sun, the wind and cold and rain. The prime consideration for a house-builder in the past was to ensure safety and protection.

During the past few decades the pattern of houses and housing has considerably changed. The change has been more marked in the towns. However, town-planning as an art and a science has not largely influenced house-building in most towns and cities.

Excepting newly built houses in Buldhana and other towns, most urban dwellings are built in bricks and mortar and have a stone foundation. The walls are plastered with mortar or cement.

Houses owned by the old aristocracy are built around a quadrangle with walls of stone or burnt bricks, tiled roofs and verandahs. Galvanised sheets are used for roofing purposes. These houses are generally one or two-storied. The most remarkable feature of these houses is exhibited in the spacious and imposing gate which leads to the quadrangle and a congregation of room. The congregation comprises broad verandahs, a watch-room (devdi), store-rooms, kitchen and living rooms. On one side of the quadrangle, there is a cattle-shed and store-room of agricultural implements. Very often there is a small well and bathrooms. But houses of this type are gradually becoming unpopular.

The majority of the houses in Buldhana are built with burnt bricks, dressed stone, teakwood beams and poles, bamboo ceiling and have tiled or flat roofs. The building structure is based upon strong stone foundation and is supported by teakwood poles and thick sidewalls. The walls are commonly built of bricks and mortar; but clay walls are not uncommon. Houses occasionally have a flat top (dhaba) of whitish grey earth, but more frequently they have sloping roofs of tiles or galvanised sheets. It is only the poorest, generally living on the outskirts of villages who use thatch.

Very few houses in the villages are properly ventilated. An average house is designed to provide hardly a couple of small windows, a couple of apartments and a kitchen which is very often adjoining to the bathing corner. The floor is made of earth, whereas the bamboo ceiling has the slow percolation of earth from above. In the majority of cases, the upper floor of the house is utilised as a store-room.

The rich have independent bungalows comprising a verandah, a drawing-room, bed-rooms, kitchen, a parlour and a pantry. The rooms are so arranged as to have an independent access to each. The walls are of stone or brick masonry in lime or cement mortar. The doors are panelled or glazed. They are built with due consideration for ventilation and convenience. A few housing co-operative societies have come up which provide independent flats.

According to the 1961 Census there are 2,14,002 occupied houses which housed a population of 10,59,698 in the district. Of these 1,79,245 are in rural areas and 34,757 in urban areas. The following table gives the total number of houses and the uses to which they are put in the district in 1961.

TABLE No. 8

HOUSES IN BULDHANA DISTRICT IN 1961.

TABLE No. 8 — contd.

According to the 1971 Census, there are 233,730 occupied residential houses which housed a population of 126,978 in the district. Of these, 193,513 houses are in rural areas and 40,217 in urban areas.

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