An organisation to support children with autism and a housing solution for flood-prone areas: our social stories of the week

During a visit to the Spastic Society of Karnataka in 2013, Amritha Krishnamoorthy met children with autism for the first time. She says that this eye-opening experience encouraged her to start Stepping Stones Centre. Based in Bengaluru, the organisation supports children with autism spectrum disorder in their overall development and eventual integration into the education system.

Stepping Stones follows an early intervention programme and a three-part inclusive education programme. In the initial assessment process, the child’s physical, cognitive, language, behavioural, and social development milestones are evaluated to determine the child’s requirements. After this, a customised plan is developed for the child. In this phase, the experts set targets to be achieved in each of the aforementioned areas. 

Read more about how Stepping Tones is helping in early intervention here.

A housing solution for flood-prone areas

In September 2023, Prashant Kumar constructed a carbon-neutral house on the banks of the Ganges in the Bhojpur district, which floats on water during the monsoons and stands firm on land in the autumn, winter, and summer months. The Floating House Project is Kumar’s solution to flooding during the monsoons that cause heavy damage to lives, livestock, and assets every year in Bihar. 

Kumar’s Floating House Project uses locally sourced materials and indigenous techniques to make climate-resilient housing for vulnerable communities. The team finished the prototype during last year's monsoon. 

The floating house has three rooms—each roughly 10x12 ft—with a total floating platform of 30x30 ft. It has one kitchen and a dry toilet, where solid waste is collected in a container filled with rice husk and sawdust and composted. 

The house can accommodate six to eight people, which, Kumar says, is the average size of a rural family in Bihar, and their livestock. It gets its electricity from four solar panels on its rooftop, which can generate up to 720 watts. Kumar and his team built the prototype house on a budget of Rs 6 lakh. However, the engineer wants to reduce its cost further to Rs 2 lakh to make it easily replicable.

In other positive news …

Beating the odds

An Andhra Pradesh-based woman student, who narrowly escaped child marriage, has overcome all odds and topped the first-year intermediate board examination. The Board of Intermediate Secretary Sourab Gaur on April 13 announced that the student, G Nirmala, hailing from Pedda Harivanam in Kurnool district, has secured 421 marks out of 440 to emerge as the topper. 

According to the Times of India, Nirmala secured 537 marks in her SSC exams last year. 

“From being forced into child marriage by her family and being rescued by district administration last year to topping the intermediate exams, she has come a long way,” said an official statement.

Green saviour 

In the heart of coal country in Jharia, Jharkand, Manoj Kumar Singh, a physiotherapist environmental crusader, has for the past 25 years made it his mission to restore greenery to a landscape that has seen both industrialisation and neglect.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, Singh has planted over 95,000 trees and transformed barren patches of land into veritable green groves. He says he drew inspiration from his father, who was passionate about planting trees.

Singh started planting trees in 1998; in 2005 he started Green Life–an organisation that encourages people to plant trees on special occasions like birthdays and wedding anniversaries and in memory of loved ones. 

He said, “We also encourage newly-wed couples to plant trees, emphasising the importance of providing adequate oxygen for future generations. Our aim is to link this mission with people’s emotions, fostering greater participation and involvement.”