Relax, green hurdles for high-rises likely to go

Geeta Desai & Sanjeev Devasia @desaigeeta @sanjeevdevasia

Now, several high-rise projects in the city may get a new lease of life. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s attempt last week, to convince the planning commission of India to relax the stringent norms set by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), may have been successful.

The MoEF guidelines restrict the height of the building in relation to the width of the road and the closest fire station.

Confirming the development, a senior official from the chief minister’s office said, “All states in India are following the MoEF guidelines as an advisory, even though the MOEF reiterated that it was mandatory. Such a blanket moratorium is not feasible for a city like Mumbai, as different cities have different conditions and should be treated differently. The MOEF has shown some regard for the concerns of the state as well as the effect on the developmental projects in the city and has agreed to consider the chief minister’s request.”

The official further said that there are better chances of the CM’s plea being heard this time. “If the restrictions are relaxed, it will give a boost to development in the city. In Maharashtra, we follow such guidelines for infrastructure projects very strictly. We did not want to flout them as they are necessary, keeping in view the safety and security of the residents. So the CM was representing the case to the commission all this while,” the official said.

New constructions in the city, the particularly high-rises, were affected by the MoEF guidelines, as most of them failed to adhere to the 30-m-wide road norm due to shortage of wide roads in the city. The guidelines also said that all buildings more than 15 meters high should have all necessary fire fighting equipment at the ready before occupancy.

According to officials, the planning commission has asked former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman, K Kasturirangan, to study Mumbai’s case and suggest whether it can be exempted from the stringent guidelines or not.

Moreover, officials said the relaxation of these rules will taken into consideration on a case-to-case basis, and will not be applicable to all high-rises in general. After the guidelines were implemented in February 2012, industry representatives had approached the prime minister’s office.