Building Material Service Bank (BSMB)

Building Materials and Services Banks concept was designed to facilitate supply and augment availability of high quality pre-fabricated building elements at a rapid pace.  These prefabricated elements maintain standard quality and accelerate the process of reconstruction, while providing jobs to local affected people, a much-desired objective within rehabilitation and reconstruction programs.  These BMSB were initiated during After Cyclone in Orissa and later replicated in After Earthquake in Bhuj, Gujarat, after Tsunami in Tamil Nadu, Flash floods in Barmer and flash floods in Leh.  These BMSB helped in guiding the bewildered house owners in constructing an appropriate house, thus keeping them away from touts and opportunity seeking contractors.  Due to its large scale of operations, a BMSB came out to be an economical supply chain for providing bulk building materials e.g. cement and steel and trained masons for speedy reconstruction.  Supported by mobile units and village construction teams, it ensured that building elements manufactured within controlled conditions of the regionally centralized production centers are delivered at the door steps of needy families and their construction queries and dilemmas were responded to.