State issues new FSI norms to check misuse

In one of the major decisions taken by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, the state urban development department on Monday issued a notification on new building approval guidelines for the city. Chavan, who heads the UD portfolio, had cleared the guidelines on July 21.

The guidelines, prepared by civic chief Subodh Kumar, seek to prevent the rampant misuse of certain building areas like flowerbeds, voids, lily ponds and pocket terraces, which were earlier counted as free of floor space index. Many builders sell these spaces to buyers at market rate and rake in huge profits.

The BMC now wants to levy 100 per cent premium on such areas in residential buildings (200 per cent for commercial buildings) and hopes to mop up Rs 3,000 crore annually. According to Kumar, builders often allow buyers to illegally amalgamate this extra space into the apartment.

The existing development control regulations (DCR) allow the civic chief to sanction areas like staircase, passage, lift, lobby, service and refuge floors and AC plant rooms, among other amenities, free of FSI. These areas are not counted in the calculations made at the time of sanctioning building plans. The practice of sanctioning areas under the "free-of-FSI" norm and then selling it at market value to customers is commonplace. Developers get these additional areas sanctioned by paying a mere 25 per cent of the ready reckoner (RR) rates as premium. They are, however, included in the area calculations while a flat is sold, resulting in buyers having to pay at market rate for them.

To check this practice and regulate the grant of area beyond the permissible FSI, the new guidelines rule that the additional area so sanctioned cannot go beyond 25 per cent of the permissible FSI for residential construction (the cap is 15 per cent in the case of commercial activity). Further, the new guidelines have proposed an increase in premium for such areas to 100% of the RR value. Besides this, the guidelines also propose fresh norms for fire safety and parking space in a construction. The public will be allowed to file its objections and suggestions to the new plan within 30 days before the new rules are finalized.

Meanwhile, even as town planners, housing experts, and citizen activists have welcomed the decision, opposition to certain provisions continue from some quarters. On Monday, a section of Congress MLAs asked Chavan to convene a special meeting to discuss the issue. The MLAs expressed reservations regarding certain provisions during the meeting at Sahyadri guesthouse in Malabar Hill. Amin Patel, Congress MLA from Mumbadevi, felt that redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings that dot the island city would be impacted. He demanded a waiver of the premium condition for buildings meant for rehabilitation of tenants residing in these buildings. Congress MLA from Bandra Baba Siddiqui also demanded a detailed discussion on the issue.

Chavan, sources said, had agreed to grant the MLAs an audience. The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) has also expressed certain reservations.