Banke locals benefiting from 'lifting-shifting' technology

By Govinda Sharma,Banke, June 12: Every monsoon, houses in Banke district, mostly those standing near the roads, gets inundated as they lie below the height of the road and there is a poor drainage system.

The house owners are bound to keep the ground floor empty as the water entering the house would damage the goods at any time during the rainy season. 

Some people, in the early days, also demolished houses in the areas where the risk of inundation was high and constructed new ones in safer places. However, it is not possible for every affected household as constructing a new house requires money and time.

Meanwhile, a new technology called "lifting-shifting" is being used to prevent the house from inundation at a cheaper price.

Through this new technology, the height of the house can be increased by lifting it and can also be shifted to a nearby location as well.

According to Bhola Singh Rathore, a resident of Janaki, Banke, many individuals have decided to lift their houses as the monsoon is approaching closer.

"The process will have no damage in the house. It is expensive as well but cheaper than constructing a new house," said Rathore, a local who is working in the sector of lifting and shifting houses in Banke for the past six months.

Rathore, who worked in the same sector for 20 years in India, is currently lifting the house of Lok Bahadur Sunar standing along the bank of New Road in Nepalgunj. 

"The house is being lifted by around four feet. The work has reached the final stage," said Rathore.

Sunar, who is also a government under-secretary, informed that he decided to lift his house after two of his relatives lifted their houses along the Nepalgunj-Gulariya road section through Rathore.

According to Rathore, no big cranes and machines are used in this technology. Just like a jack is used to lift a car for repair, a house is also lifted and the lifted part is filled with the support of bricks, cement and iron as necessary.

"It costs Rs. 500 per square foot for a one-storey house, Rs. 750 per square foot for a two-storey house and Rs. 1,000 per square foot for a three-storey house," said Rathore.

According to Rathore, he has received calls from outside Nepalgunj as well as the technology was new but essential for many houses in Terai.