Urban Planning

100 Mumbai buildings declared dangerous in pre-monsoon survey

Monday, 04 June 2018 11:02 administrator

The Times of India 03.06.2018

100 Mumbai buildings declared dangerous in pre-monsoon survey

ANI | Jun 3, 2018, 15:38 IST

A pre-monsoon survey has declared 7 Mumbai buildings as extremely dengerous.

MUMBAI: In its annual pre-monsoon survey, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) has declared seven buildings in the city as extremely dangerous.
These seven buildings which come under the repair board of Mhada are said to be more than 50 years old.

Prakash Mehta, state housing minister said that the Mhada officials have managed to vacate 286 families from these seven buildings. He also said that the officials have sent notices to the remaining 117 families to vacate.

Top Comment

Nothing new. This kind of survey is done every year in Mumbai but tenants living in such dangerous and dilapidated building don''t want to move for several reasons. BMC knows very well about this.Evans Sumitra

"Our survey has found that there are seven buildings in the most dangerous category. We are requesting the occupants to vacate the premises for their own safety," Mehta said.

There are 93 dilapidated buildings which fall under the jurisdiction of the BMC and the state housing minister said that these dilapidated buildings fall in C1 (dangerous) category of the municipal corporation and the BMC will be getting them vacated too.

Mumbai: New development plan to come into effect from June 23

Monday, 04 June 2018 06:13 administrator

The Times of India 04.06.2018

Mumbai: New development plan to come into effect from June 23

MUMBAI: The city's Development Plan (DP) 2034 will come into force from June 23, exactly a month after a notification was published in a state government gazette. But the plan which comes into force will not include the Excluded Plan (EP), for which suggestions and objections are being sought from citizens.

The DP is a blueprint for the city's land use for two decades. The state urban development department had issued the notification on sanctioning of the DP on May 8. It had three parts - the sanctioned part (Schedule A), the revised part, called Excluded Plan (Schedule B), and Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) for its implementation.

The EP has newly-introduced provisions and significant changes suggested by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) planning committee and the state government and had been approved by the civic general body. The Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act requires that the government invite fresh suggestions and objections from citizens.

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It''s all bogus.. Politicians, and civilians are bent upon exploiting resources recklessly, no hopesUrmil Contractor

Till June 22, proposals will be processed under the DP and DCR 1991, but from June 23, they will be processed under DP and DCPR 2034, but again taking into consideration which are the more stringent of the two, which means the DP and DCPR 2034, and EP provisions.

BMC has decided that for proper implementation and guiding architects and staff for processing proposals after June 23, guidelines in the form of a transition policy will be issued. A civic official said the policy should be ready in eight days. "For the EP, the government can either give a hearing or take a decision on it," said the official.

Corporation gets busy to face rain challenge

Thursday, 31 May 2018 07:41 administrator

The Hindu 31.05.2018

Corporation gets busy to face rain challenge

Work unde rway at a storm-water drain next to Maharani’s College at Paduvarahalli in Mysuru.M.A. SRIRAMM.A. SRIRAM

Silt is being removed from storm-water drains across city

With the onset of monsoon, Mysuru’s rain preparedness seems to have been stepped up with the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) cleaning up stormwater drains across the city on a war-footing.

As silt in drains is the main cause for floods, officials are busy with removing silt from 70-km long stormwater drains.

The ongoing work here gains significance as clogged drains in Mangaluru were said to be behind the rain damage in the coastal city.

Already, pre-monsoon showers and rain, owing to low pressure in the Arabian Sea, have been lashing the city for the past many days.

MCC Commissioner K.H. Jagadish told The Hindu that the work is under way in areas in low-lying areas.

Among nine zones in the MCC limits, storm water drains run across all zones barring Zone 5. The longest running drain is located in Zone 9 which has a length of 20.9 km.

He said the Superintendent Engineer, MCC is supervising the works which are coordinated by the respective heads of the Zones. “I have inspected the works which are being undertaken simultaneously, and they are in various stages of completion. Before the monsoon gets active, the work will be done,” he replied.

Silt is also being removed from manholes as there are possibilities of storm water entering the UGD lines. Blocked UGD lines, if any, are also getting cleared using machines.

“Since the dredging work has been taken up on a priority basis, we are completing 60 percent work with extra men and machinery employed to complete the job before the monsoon peaks in,” the Commissioner said.

The Commissioner also said that weak and dried tree branches are being trimmed to prevent them from falling on electrical lines.

“We are also awaiting permission from the Forest Department for uprooting dead trees which pose threat to public safety. On getting the nod, such trees would be cleared.”

Mr. Jagadish said that three ‘abhaya’ (rapid response) teams will be working round-the-clock, in different shifts, to attend to rain-related emergencies.

In case of trees uprooting in the night, the team will make arrangements for clearing the traffic.

Two teams will remain as stand-by for attending to complaints of UGD in the event of heavy rains and to clear blockages in the drains, he added.

BMC allows terrace access to all building lifts

Tuesday, 21 November 2017 00:00 administrator

The Times of India 21.11.2017

BMC allows terrace access to all building lifts

MUMBAI: In a first, the BMC has approved a provision to allow lifts to travel right till the common terrace areas of all buildings, in an attempt to improve accessibility for the elderly and differently abled.

According to the BMC's development control regulations (DCR), the lift is an alternate means of vertical access in addition to a staircase. The civic body's building proposal (BP) department had initiated a proposal for allowing lifts till the terrace areas of buildings earlier this month.

The proposal states that the provision is needed for optimal use of terraces as an additional recreational area. Currently, the common terrace of any building can only be accessed by a staircase as there was no clear-cut provision regarding accessibility of common terraces above the top-most floor by lift. While the DCR 1991 did not have such a provision, the draft DCR 2034, which is currently undergoing revisions, has provided for making common terraces available by staircases as well as lifts. It also states that common terraces could be used for an additional recreational green area over and above the mandatory layout open space requirement.

Civic officials said the need for such a provision arose because of increasing demand from newer projects in the past few years. "However, in case of existing buildings, prior certification regarding a building's structural stability must be submitted. The society must also ensure security of premises once a lift is allowed to travel right till the terrace," said an official, adding that external lifts till the terrace area will be permitted too.

Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta said while lifts will be allowed to reach the terrace, no construction will be allowed on it.

"A lot of people these days have taken an interest in rooftop gardens. We are allowing this provision to enable them to reach there easily."

Activist Neenu Kewlani, who uses a wheelchair, called it a wonderful decision.

Corpn wards happy with State’s development promise

Monday, 25 September 2017 07:26 administrator

The Hindu 25.09.2017

Corpn wards happy with State’s development promise

An interim order to be in place till a new plan comes about

For the residents of around 50 wards in the Corporation area, the State government’s notification of the Interim Development Order (IDO) in the city Corporation two days ago, has come as a relief.

Ever since the freezing of the previous Draft Master Plan three years ago, residents in several wards have been facing issues to get their building permits approved. When the draft master plan 2013 was scrapped due to opposition from residents, close to 50 wards, which were added to the Corporation in recent years, ended up without a sanctioned master plan.

Core areas

Only the core areas of the city comes under the previous sanctioned master plan, prepared in 1971. Without an Interim Development Order in place, building permit applications in such areas that came near green strips had to be forwarded from the Corporation to the Regional Town Planner. There have been quite a few rejections in this period. In the IDO, residential buildings till 300 square metres are allowed in plots of area between 3 and 10 cents. In the case of plots of area between 10 and 25 cents, residential buildings till 400 square metres are allowed. All other construction purposes are limited to 200 square metres.

But, former Additional Chief Town Planner Jacob Easow who prepared the Master Plan of 2013, has criticised the delay in issuing the Interim Development Order. “The first master plan was prepared for period 1966 to 1986. Even though the second master plan was prepared and later published in 1994, it was not sanctioned by the State government. After 19 years, the third master plan (draft) was prepared and published in 2013, but it was scrapped due to several objections. Now an Interim Development Order(IDO) has been released. This could have been done in 2013 or 2014 itself. Why did we waste all this time in issuing the IDO?” he asks. However, Corporation officials say that the IDO could not have been initiated until the preparation of the new Master Plan had officially begun.

New master plan

“The process to prepare the new Master Plan began only earlier this year. So, IDO could be notified only after that,” said the official.

The IDO will be in force until the approval of the new Master Plan.

Though December was the earlier deadline for the Master Plan, it is expected to take at least an year more, going by its current pace.

The IDO could have been released in 2013 or 2014 itself. Why did we waste all this time in issuing it?

Jacob Easow

Former Additional Chief Town Planner

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