Pune house made taller by 3.5 feet to prevent flooding

Pune: Shiv Iyer, a Punekar, has managed to raise the height of his house by 3.5 feet with the help of a company that specialises in such tasks. Over the last three years his house would get flooded, making the furniture damp, and his wife was forced to scoop out the water in buckets since the level of the road outside, BT Kawade Road, got elevated due to road development work by the corporation. He began his search for a solution and found a provider.

Mr Iyer, whose house is spread on 2,200 meters and built 18 years ago, has since last year been mulling over an option to demolish the house and build a new one or at least add floors. Mr Iyer said, “My sister, who is a resident of Chennai, told me about house lifting or raising. I researched on the internet and found a company called Sisodia and Sons House Lifting Pvt Ltd in Haryana.”

The firm’s team carried out an examination of the house, its surrounding area and land-level. It then accepted the contract and began work in the last week of May this year.

Balwan Sisodia, managing director of the company that lifted Mr Iyer’s house, said, “We dug up the basement and cut pillars. By using 200 jacks, used for heavy vehicles, we lifted the building off the ground and first floor by 3.5 feet. Now, we will fill the foundation with concrete. The work will be over in the next ten days.”

He added, “We charge Rs 250 per feet. The project cost is over Rs 20 lakh.”

For Mr Iyer it’s a good deal instead of rebuilding the house or relocating. Mr Sisodia says the phenomenon is not new. “Our firm has been availing services since 1991. Till now, we have lifted or raised or relocated around 2,000 houses. Earlier, we would work in North India only. Now our services are being called for in south India for the last eight-nine years also.”