The Hindu 08.11.2009
Builders urged to focus on low-cost housing
Staff Reporter
| Lack of infrastructure a reason for not allowing high-rise buildings: CMDA |
PHOTO: S.R. Raghunathan 
In discussion: (From left) P.R. Swarup, Director General of CIDC, G.V.Ramakrishna, patron, CIDC, and Vikram Kapur, Member Secretary, CMDA, at the inauguration of a seminar on high-rise buildings in Chennai on Friday. —
CHENNAI: The city of Chennai does not even have a single high-rise building though Mumbai and even Hyderabad and Kolkata have several of them, said speakers at a seminar on high-rise buildings, organised by the Construction Industry Development Council Chennai Advisory Group (CIDC-CAG) here on Friday.
Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority Member Secretary Vikram Kapur said since there was a paucity of parking place and infrastructure had to be improved in the city to meet the standards necessary for developing high-rise buildings, permission for such structures was only being considered.
He said the CMDA had recently revised the floor space index to allow builders to construct taller buildings.
No-objection certificates
“We have relaxed the number of no-objection certificates needed for builders to go ahead with a multi-storied building project, except a few mandatory ones like those from the fire services authority and the Airports Authority of India,” he said.
He suggested that the construction industry focus on meeting the housing needs of the economically weaker sections and low-income group families.
He advised construction companies against indulging in unscrupulous practices and keep affordability in mind while building apartments.
Former bureaucrat G.V.Ramakrishna, a patron of CIDC, said Chennai was not yet prepared for high-rise apartments as this required infrastructure and safety standards to be created first.
“Imagine if there was a fire in the 14th floor of a building and there was no fire-fighting equipment in it, what would happen to the residents,” he asked.
While it was easy for builders to make money by building high-rise apartments, thought should also go into the problems unwary occupants were likely to face.
“In the absence of facilities like service lifts, moving up and down the building will be difficult,” he said.
Facilities such power back-up were also essential in such buildings.
In a panel discussion that followed, issues such as safety of high-rise buildings in the event of earthquakes were discussed.
Zachariah George, a structural engineer, said because Chennai had high wind forces and was in seismic zone III, builders had to first acquire the necessary technology and materials required to construct high-rise buildings in the city.