Bhonga House
Bhonga House
Bhonga House
Covering an area of
45,652 km, it is the largest district of India. The population of Kutch is 21 Lakh, literacy rate is 59.79%.
People of this region are of very low or low income class. It is also earthquake prone area.
BHUNGA HOUSES
The Bhonga is a traditional construction type in the Kutch district of
the Gujarat state in India, which has a very high earthquake
risk(seismic zone IV and V).
PLAN
Veranda
for Kitchen
men
Women Storage or
Gathering space and another room
children
ELEVATION
WALL CONSTRUCTION OF BHUNGA
Due to circular shape of wall in plan, inertial forces developed addition, the
thick walls required for thermal insulation have high in-plane stiffness which
provides excellent performance under lateral loads.
The roofing in wall are resisted through shell action providing excellent
resistance to lateral forces.
In materials are generally very light weight, and develops low inertia forces.
Since the roof is constructed from extremely ductile materials such as bamboo
and straw, the performance of.these roofs is usually very robust
Filling bamboo rafters Setting the thatched roof Securing the roof with rope
Bhungas construction details
In several Bhongas, the roof joist is not directly supported on the cylindrical walls, but is
supported by two wooden vertical posts outside the Bhonga, which further improves
seismic resistance of the inertia force generated in the roof.
In some instances, reinforcing bands at lintel level and collar level have been used to
provide additional strength.
These bands are constructed from bamboo or from RCC. These increase the lateral load-
carrying strength greatly and increase the seismic resistance of the Bhongas.
Even in situations where the roof collapses, its low weight ensures that the extent of
injuries to occupants is very low.