Thousands of old buildings along highways — eastern and western — may have to wait much longer for redevelopment. The State will not allow any exemptions in the form of a no-objection certificate (NoC) to these structures. This comes in the wake of an earlier rule to link road width to floor space index (FSI) and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).
Chief secretary D.K. Jain has approved a proposal detailing the guidelines for ‘buildings falling in the buffer zone’ of highways. It has been forwarded to the Minister for Public Works Department (PWD) for approval.
The rules have been framed after a spate of complaints from the planning agencies, who have been demanding that old structures claiming exemption under the State rules not be given an NoC by the PWD and the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA).
A new policy on ‘buildings falling in the buffer zone’ of highways has been forwarded to the PWD.
“The planning authorities have been petitioning us against certain rules that allow exemption to structures falling under the buffer zone of highways. That has been done away with. A policy in this regard is forwarded to the Minister concerned,” State Chief Secretary D.K. Jain told The Hindu.
The State government had earlier linked the FSI and TDR to road width, capping the index to 0.2 for all road widths in the suburbs and 0.2 for 9-metre roads in the island city. The new Development Control and Promotional Rules of Mumbai have also limited the FSI to 1.33 for the 9-metre road as opposed to the earlier FSI of 1.5 as per the old Development Plan. The maximum FSI of 5 is allowed only for hotels on independent plots, provided it is located on a road that is at least 30-metre wide. The new DCPR, while setting aside fears that increasing FSI without considering growth of social infrastructure will result in chaos, has ensured the FSI regime is chained to road width of a minimum of nine metres, going up to 24 metres and beyond for commercial and other development.
According to planning agencies, the buffer along the highways is necessary to maintain service roads and connecting the missing links. The PWD and MMRDA are responsible for maintaining the highways and issuing NoCs. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation removes the illegal encroachment and unauthorised construction along the service roads of highways.
The local politicians, citizens and activists said if an exemption is not made, it will hurt the redevelopment of thousands of structures. “We will go to court if they do not make an exemption for structures that are in poor condition. What were the agencies doing since 1991, when the earlier DP came into force? They remove structures on the service roads but do little to maintain the buffer,” said Yogesh Sagar, senior BJP MLA from the western suburbs.