NO-DEVELOPMENT ZONE UNLOCKED FOR HOUSING
The State government has handed over on a platter to the real estate industry 3,355 hectares of land previously designated as no-development zone. It has also bent backwards to give them commercial Floor Space Index (FSI) of 5 in a city starved for space.
The target is to construct 10 lakh affordable homes through unlocking of the NDZ. This is expected to meet the needs of the ever increasing population in the city till 2034. An additional attraction is that it will generate eight lakh jobs.
But even though the document has determined the city’s land use for the next 20 years, it is silent on the infrastructure development, which may not keep pace with the boom in real estate activity.
Already, Mumbai is the world’s most crowded city with rickety infrastructure. Most proposals in the pipeline – such as a parking authority – are still a distant dream. But on paper, at least, the DPR has factored in the additional load on parking of vehicles.
The mantra in the final blueprint is affordable housing. About 2,100 hectares of it will go towards increasing the affordable housing stock, said Ajoy Mehta, municipal commissioner of Mumbai, at a press conference.
The state has plans to build 5.5 lakh affordable houses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region by 2022.
Fly ash, which is generated in a power plant, has been allowed to be used in construction of buildings under DP-2034.”
An additional 350 hectares of salt pan land will also be harnessed for this purpose. However, some questions need to be answered in this respect, especially how the salt pan development will take place given the coastal zone regulations.
However, sources said Centre is already in the loop and is expected to tweak the norms at some point in future.
The second notable highlight of the DP is that the floor space index, or the extent of development allowed on a piece of land, for both commercial and residential buildings, has been hiked. The FSI in Island City will be -- Residential: 3 and Commercial: 5; earlier, it was 1.33 across the board for commercial and residential projects. The FSI in suburbs will be -- 2.5 for Residential, as against 2 earlier. For commercial space, it will be 5, as against 2.5 earlier.
This is a sure recipe for vertical growth of the city. A higher FSI essentially means developers will be able to build more on a given plot. And that is achieved by adding floors to a high rise. But that will lead to increase in density of population in a city that is already home to nearly 2 crore people.
Nitin Kareer, the principal secretary of Urban Development Department, clarified that BMC will offer 5 FSI for commercial buildings. “The FSI will depend upon the width of the road. According to standard orders, BMC allows road not less than 9 meters in width. The basic FSI is 3 and once the width of the road will increase, the FSI will also increase,” he explained.
The new DP-2034 and the TDR policy will together act as a catalyst for the construction sector. It will not only promote more housing but also impact home owners by reducing prices.
The Eco-Sensitive Zones – mangroves, forests and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park – will not be touched; they have been designated as ‘natural’ areas where no construction will be allowed. The scrutiny committee appointed to finalise the DP has also given relief to people living in the funnel zone near the airports and will bring for them a separate policy. There will be now restrictions on height of buildings in the vicinity of airport.
The DP-2034 was unveiled by Nitin Kareer, the principal secretary of Urban Development Department, at a media interaction where Ajoy Mehta, municipal commissioner of the BMC, and Sanjay Kumar, principal secretary, housing department, were present. Kareer said the DP had been approved by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday.
Public buildings will be specifically asked to comply with provisions for differently abled; besides, special roads will be designed for them. Moreover, provision has been made for hawking – especially open floor in markets for the informal sector.
There are other miscellaneous provisions -- Slum dwellers and chawl owners residing in cotton mill compound will get carpet area of 405 square feet for purpose of redevelopment; data centre will be allowed a height of 6 meters; there will be special play parks, reading and painting space for children.