Relax building norms in CRZ areas too,civic body urges state

While currently development in CRZ-2 areas allows for 1.33 Floor Space Index (FSI) in the Island city,and one in the suburbs,the new proposal aims at providing for higher FSI in terms of fungible FSI. In a letter sent to the state government in March this year,Subodh Kumar had requested the Environment Department to allow the modified development control (DC) regulation of January 2012 in such areas.

BMC development planning department chief engineer J Patgaonkar said,“The proposal to ask for certain amendments in the CRZ notification of 2011 has been sent to the state government. A reply is awaited.”

Under the new DCR that was amended in January 2012,areas for balcony,flower-beds,terraces,voids and niches would be counted in the FSI. These areas were not earlier considered in the FSI calculations for construction. To compensate for this loss in FSI,the state government has allowed compensatory fungible FSI of up to 35 per cent for residential developments and 20 per cent for industrial and commercial developments for a certain premium. Civic officials said this fungible FSI could be used for bigger habitat area or flowerbeds,voids and so on.

Similarly,the proposal also asks for allowing public parking under the 33(24) public parking policy in CRZ areas. This policy provides for FSI incentives and concessions in the premium charges developers constructing parking lots in residential projects.

Environmental activists said the proposal seemed to be aimed at legalising what currently is termed as a violation as builders are anyway using excessive FSI in CRZ-2 areas. “In case of such schemes,including the 33(24) Public Parking and fungible FSI,the CRZ-2 areas will be subject to high construction activity and increased building projets. The concern is whether these schemes will result in lopsided development. The public parking might result in lack of open spaces in those areas,” said activist Rishi Agarwal.

The CRZ-2 areas are those where substantial development had already occurred before 1991. No new construction is allowed on the seaward side of roads and reconstruction of existing structures is permitted at 1.33 FSI.