Prince Charles to build model village in India

Prince Charles to build model village in India

London: Britain's Prince Charles is building an eco-friendly model village for around 15,000 poor people in India, inspired by the slums depicted in Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire".

Prince Charles dances with villagers at Tolasar village near Jodhpur, Rajasthan

The multi-million-pound venture - on a 25-acre wasteland on the outskirts of either Kolkata or Bangalore - will include schools, shops and 3,000 homes, the Daily Mail reported.

The Prince of Wales' village is modelled on Poundbury in Dorset county that has been Charles' 30-year-old pet project.

Construction for the Indian village - the first of a series of eco-developments in India by the Prince's Foundation for the Built ­Environment charity - is set to begin in the autumn.

The new town, for mainly low-caste people, will have features that Charles has championed for decades.

Large roofs overhung with palm trees will collect rainwater, which will be used for showering, washing and in toilets before being recycled to water plants.

Shade and natural ventilation will combat temperatures that regularly top 38 degrees Celsius.

Instead of open sewage, rubbish heaps and shared sanitation blocks common in Indian slums, the residents will have individual toilets and waste facilities.

A general view of Dharavi, considered Asia's biggest shantytown, is seen in Mumbai

The project comes after Charles praised Mumbai's Dharavi slum, featured in Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire", despite it housing up to a million people in a place less than half the size of the prince's Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire.

"When you enter what looks from the outside like an immense mound of plastic and rubbish, you immediately come upon an intricate network of streets with miniature shops, houses and workshops, each one made out of any material that comes to hand," he said.

Unlike the "fragmented, deconstructed housing estates" built in the West, the slum has "order and harmony", Charles claimed, adding, "We have a great deal to learn about how complex ­systems can self-organise to ­create a harmonious whole".

Charles has been to India many times, most recently with his wife Camilla during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

His charity will also open its first overseas office in Mumbai this year.

Source: IANS