Guwahati, March 3: It’s a complete makeover for coir.

The versatile natural fibre used for making items like umbrellas, sandals or comfortable mattresses, will now be used to build houses for the hilly and disaster-prone Northeast.

The Coir Board has taken up a project, under which coir wood will be used to develop small houses. The houses comprise a living room, hall and a kitchen and would cost anything between Rs 60,000 and 70,000.

“We have reached an agreement with Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati, which is developing a model of the house. Once the model is ready, we will try for commercial production. Coir wood can be used as a substitute for wood and is equally durable,” a board official told The Telegraph.

Coir is generally extracted from the husk of coconut or the mesocarp tissue and the fibre is golden in colour when cleaned after removing the husk.

“The houses made of coir wood can be of immense help in the hilly areas of the Northeast, particularly Assam, a large part of which is seismically active and has already witnessed many earthquakes earlier. The houses are earthquake-proof and provide safe housing for people here,” said the official.

He said the project has been undertaken under the board’s coir promotion activities in the region during the 12th Five Year Plan.

As part of the promotional programme, the board recently organised an exhibition of coir items here, which has been developed by the Central Coir Research Institute, Alappuzha, Kerala, and widely marketed.

“We are giving equal emphasis on the use of coir wood in construction and infrastructure development projects. The Indian Road Congress has already agreed to use coir geo-textiles for erosion control and rural road projects in nine states. The Assam public works department, too. has included coir in its construction manual and houses made of coir wood are equally durable,” board secretary, M.K. Raja, recently told this correspondent.

“We are also in discussion with engineers, architects and builders for more use of coir wood in construction activities. It will also reduce the use of normal wood and felling of trees and thereby protect the environment,” Raja had said.

Although coir has emerged as an important natural fibre and is used in the production of many items, not more than 50 per cent of coconut husks is utilised in the coir industry, with the remaining being used as fuel in rural areas.

Even in the Northeast, the use of coconut husk for the coir sector is not more than 20 per cent. The total production in Assam is 147 million nuts, which can produce 11,760 metric tonnes of fibre.