A building strategy that takes floods in its stride

Nanma Gireesh and Ben K. George’s construction start-up builds houses that are immune to flooding

Three years ago, just as Kerala had been recovering from an unprecedented flood, two young engineers from the State were busy putting the finishing touches to their years-long project for a ‘climate change future.’ The duo, Nanma Gireesh and Ben K. George, both translational engineers, initially had their focus on the concept of floating houses. But as the research progressed, they realised how important it was for Kerala to adopt a construction method that takes flooding in its stride. Animated by its potential, they carried on with the research and established a construction start-up, which works on houses that are not just resistant but immune to flooding.