In a burgeoning cyberpolis like Bangalore, one's dream of building a house is invariably followed by a nightmare! Negotiations, agreements and wordy duels with the contractor, the engineer, the masons and above all, the endless bribes to civic authorities for those clearances make sure to dispel the faintest desire to build a house. If only one could wish away these `hurdles' and yet have a beautiful home of one's own...Sounds impossible, right? Wrong, ask Instaccom, a firm that promises to give you instant solutions to your housing woes.

Instaccom (the logo name) of Carewell Technologies and Products puts up pre-fabricated ready-to-assemble accommodation, residential or commercial, within a few weeks. These houses are not made of the conventional brick and cement, yet they are strong and aesthetic, says S K Nigam, General Manager, Instaccom. "All you need to do is to place an order and sit back and of course, get ready to occupy it within 10 to 12 weeks," he says.

The concept of instant accommodation is prevalent all over the world, though mainly to house tourists. The concept itself is six centuries old, and architects and builders the world over have tried out various models of 'instant' structures to customise them with respect to the location of use. For instance, the Indian variety has been made vaastu-friendly. ''The accommodations adhere to the Indian culture, ethos and environment. Vaastu is definitely on top priority," he says.

And then, there is the durability part. Instaccom structures are fabricated in double layers and the walls  made of high density laminated particle boards reinforced by steel structures, to make them stronger. The space between the outer and inner layer of the board is insulated for heat and sound. This is the same with the sloping roof too, which is made of corrugated GI painted sheets. Service lines like water, electrical, cable and telephone wires run through the two-inch cavity between the boards. These inbuilt service lines allow for maximum utilisation of space, Nigam adds.

The doors and windows are made of teak. And like any other plush home, Instaccom kitchens come complete with sleek wooden cupboards, black granite platform and washbasins. The bathrooms can compete with their modern 'concrete' counterparts, what with shower, sink and other utilities. Bedrooms, not to be left behind, have well-designed wardrobes and have vinyl flooring like the rest of the house.

If you haven't been floored by this new technology yet, listen to this. The flooring comes with particle boards supported by steel structures on what is called a floating foundation (flat foundation which does not extend below two feet of the structure). And what's more, they are quakeproof too.

This makes Instaccom houses as safe as, if not more than, any conventional house. The floating foundation prevents the building from collapse as quakes, which originate from the greater depths of the earth, tend to get less intense as they proceed higher towards the earth's surface. ''During earthquakes, unlike concrete buildings, these structures will withstand any jerk or change in the ground pressure. They may shake, but will not collapse. Even if they do, the inmates will survive since the roof and the walls are very light.''

The high density boards used for installing these homes are so strong that they cannot even be hammered down; they can only be cut using a drilling machine. These structures are resistant against the forces of nature like water, fire, wind. Besides, they are also termite proof.

The company has proposed to take up installation of 400 such houses in a colony in Gujarat to rehabilitate the recent earthquake victims.

The greatest advantage here is that one can get rid of the hassles of getting clearances from authorities at every stage. All that you need to do is just let the authority concerned know that you are installing a Instaccom in the acquired place.

An expert in installing pre-fabricated structures for the last 25 years, Nigam, who has designed portable accommodations like the houses on wheels for the Somalia Peace Keeping Force in 1995 and shelters for defence personnel in Leh and Rohtang Pass, says such instant houses are common in countries like Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and Thailand.

These portable houses can be dismantled and re-installed at any suitable place. Moving place? All that you need to do is dismantle them, put them in a truck and re-erect them where ever you want. On an average, a single bedroom house weighs 4 to 6 tonnes. Instaccoms can be installed on pillars, your unused terrace, on your vacant land, in the farm as farmhouses, on trees like machans and open backyards. You can also have them as additional rooms, outhouses and guest houses. However, additional floors and multi-storeyed buildings, cannot be installed by this method, he adds.

Cost involved:
A neat single bedroom 500-sq ft pre-fabricated house for a family of four would cost Rs 4 lakh. This includes a living-cum-dining room, kitchen, bedroom, bath-cum-toilet and a sit-out complete with electrical fittings, water and sanitary connections, cupboards and wardrobes. However, if you want extra fixtures and luxuries, the cost would increase proportionally. Nigam claims Instaccom structures need no maintenance up to 40 years.

Resorts and farmhouse builders make up 80 per cent of Instaccom's clients; a few corporates as well as those going in for guest houses opt for this way. The rest include clients who want terrace houses, clinics and nursing homes.

In Bangalore, among the interesting projects the company has taken up, are a project on Mysore Road for a farmhouse, a house on pillars, an individual house on a 40 x 60 site and a few terrace houses. According to Nigam, the response has been very encouraging. In fact, the company's office at R T Nagar is itself a live advertisement, which gives the visitor a feel of how a finished Instaccom structure would look.