Open space in residential areas all set to shrink

COIMBATORE: The open space reserve (OSR) area, which is the space marked for public purpose in every residential layout, is all set to shrink. According to a circular issued by the commissioner of town and country planning on February 26, realtors can earmark OSR excluding the space for roads allocated within the layout.
Earlier, 10% of OSR was allotted calculating the area earmarked for roads also.

Though the percentage of OSR remains the same at 10%, effectively the open space will come down, which in turn will benefit the builders while leaving the residents with a shrunken public space.

While builders have welcomed the move, activists said they will challenge this circular in court.

The empowered committee met on February 7 and took this decision apparently after requests from real estate owners association. The committee cited the example of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority where OSR is calculated for the area excluding the roads and decided to follow similar procedure in areas approved by Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP).

Ramesh Bafna, former president of CREDAI, Tamil Nadu said that this was a welcome move and it will benefit the residents. "The land prices will come down and everyone will benefit if this is implemented. We have been requesting the government regarding this for a long time. This will also help in better implementation of the central government's ambitious affordable housing scheme," he said.

Activists however said that the empowered committee did not have the authority to pass such orders. "The corporation acts and government laws clearly state that OSR has to be calculated for the entire layout and roads cannot be excluded from it. This is against the government act and we will challenge this in the court," said RTI activist S P Thiyagarajan.

K Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore consumer cause said that they were completely opposed to this circular and it was issued with vested interests. "Just to please a few real estate owners and under political pressure, such a circular has been passed," he said.