Raipur’s animal lovers to build a shelter out of waste

Raipur’s animal lovers have one more reason to be happy now. A bunch of youngsters, actively associated with a city-based organisation that works for animal welfare, has come up with a unique and novel initiative of building a shelter for homeless animals from waste including used bottles. Raipur Times got in touch with these enterprising youngsters to find out what inspired them to give these homeless animals a place they could soon call their own.
A move to make the best out of waste
Committed to taking care of animals that have been injured or handicapped, this group of 30 odd youngsters has decided to use over 10,000 waste bottles to build an animal shelter. This would cover half an acre of area in Shyam Nagar. Kasturi Ballal, an active volunteer with the group, said, “Our idea behind building this shelter came from making the best use of waste. This shelter would serve as a temporary one for animals that have been injured or afflicted with disease. And while one can’t eradicate pollution because of junk (like bottles), we thought of at least putting it to good use.” The bottles being used to build the shelter include soda and beverage bottles that will bound with cement, informed Kasturi.
A concrete plan ahead
The group started working on the idea a week ago and is looking at seeing it reaching completion in the next 20 days. “The shelter will be built on land that was initially a dumping ground. We spotted the plot and had this idea in mind for long. After having taken all the necessary permissions, work will commence in the coming week. Sankalp Gaidhani, a graduate who is also a key member of the group, informed, “We read about similar projects that have been undertaken in other countries before. Taking inspiration from them, the volunteers began working by individually collecting bottles from whoever they could. Their strategy is to go to hotels, restaurants, schools, colleges and malls where bottles can be found easily. Each volunteer has been given a target of 300-350 bottles. In addition, we are also seeking the help of professional architects.”
cost-effective initiative
Building a structure like this is no mean feat, and involves costs as well. Contrary to what one may think, this group had it all planned well before they touched ground zero. Sankalp said, “As per our rough calculations, if one were to use concrete, cement, bricks, iron and other construction material, building a simple shelter like this would cost nothing less than `50,000. But collecting and including bottles as a major part of the structure has brought down our costs by almost 80%. As we are using empty bottles, we will fill each one with gravel to ensure they are strong from within.”
A shelter with several benefits
Once the shelter is ready, these youngsters have plans to nurse and take care of animals here. Prateek Pathak, a college student and volunteer, said, “This shelter will particularly be used to treat and nurse dogs suffering from mange. We already have 15 such dogs under our care, and as this is a communicable disease, these dogs will need isolation and special care, for which this shelter would be perfect.”
Other plans in the pipeline
Sterilisation of stray dogs, treating injured animals and getting them immunised are some of the activities that the group is involved in. The group believes that Chhattisgarh has a rich bounty of wildlife as well that needs to be preserved. As a part of this move, the volunteers are in talks with state and other organisations associated with animal welfare to implement several ideas in order to check crime against wildlife.