Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member S. Ramachandran Pillai has laid foundation stone of the first amphibious house at Munroe Thuruth in Kollam, Kerala on 6th April. An ambitious project funded by the CPI(M), the special construction technology is expected to solve all tidal-flood related issues in the island. Houses in wetland ecosystems require unique architectural features to survive and amphibious houses offer exactly that.
“They use low-weight water resistant material and will be able to adapt to rising and falling waters. We will be building a couple of prototypes on the island and we already have architects working on that,” said CPI(M) district secretary K.N. Balagopal. Munroe Thuruth currently has normal buildings that are not suitable for the island facing the threat of submersion.
Amphibious houses can be either floating type designed to float with rising water or built on stilts. They also come equipped with chemical toilets and are normally disaster proof. The delta islands at the confluence of the Kallada river and Ashtamudi Lake have been facing a lot of climate change-related environmental issues with houses and roads getting flooded often.