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of Gujarat - post-tsunami reconstruction was entirely contractor-driven.
Tamil Nadu's reconstruction outcome added yet another piece of evi-
dence that contractor-driven reconstruction leads to environmentally and
socio-culturally inadequate housing and settlement and to poor construction
quality. It was shown that one of the main reasons for the prevalence of this
approach was the fact that reconstruction was fully taken over by private
organizations that were funded primarily by international agencies.
The observation that many international NGOs continue to support
contractor-driven reconstruction is a matter of concern, especially if one
considers that the associated processes and outcomes deviate substantively
from all international guiding principles and standards. The discrepancies
between principles, on the one hand, and the practices on the ground, on the
other, point to the need to refine instruments that may enhance accountability
towards local governments and communities. In India, state governments
have the capacity to develop such instruments. However, governments need
to recognize that financial assistance for owner-driven reconstruction is not
just the most practical solution for a state agency in managing post-disaster
reconstruction but also the most empowering and the most sustainable
approach. Once the overall benefits of owner-driven reconstruction and
the risks of contractor-driven reconstruction are recognized, governments
should ensure that all agencies follow an owner-driven approach. The lack
of a regulatory framework has given excessive freedom to private agencies
to pursue whatever approach meets their own interests, which all too often
leads to contractor-driven reconstruction.
Post-disaster building technologies and practices
India is a country with a well-established environmental housing move-
ment that has its roots in Gandhian ethics and principles. In Maharashtra,
however, this movement had but a marginal and inconsistent impact on
post-disaster reconstruction. Local civil-society organizations' advocacy for
participatory and culturally sensitive reconstruction led to communities being
involved, to a certain degree, in settlement planning and housing designs, but
it failed to result in reconstruction processes relying on local building skills
and technologies. The adoption of industrial building materials led to the
exclusion of local masons, so the opportunity to strengthen their building
capacity by integrating safety measures within their traditional building
technologies was missed. The case of Gujarat exhibits significant progress
in building upon local capacity by linking owner-driven reconstruction with
the training of local masons. Moreover, official building codes and guidelines
aimed at improving the safety of local and alternative building technologies.
Nonetheless, several local and most international NGOs did not take advan-
tage of this favourable policy environment and went ahead with promoting
exogenous building technologies.
In Tamil Nadu, prejudices towards vernacular housing had dramatic
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