Business Line 17.03.2011
Move for floor-wise sanction of building plans in Delhi
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday
said it would frame guidelines on allowing floor-wise sanction of
building plans in Delhi within two months, after a key panel of the
civic body adopted a resolution that it should be permitted with some
conditions.
The issue was discussed at a meeting of the MCD Standing
Committee, a key decision-making body of the corporation, in which
councillors said that not allowing floor-wise sanction was leading to
increasing corruption and the solution to the housing problem of the
city lies in its vertical development.
At present, ground plus two floors are allowed in most
parts of the Capital but the owner of the uppermost floor needs to
obtain a no-objection certificate from the owners of other portions if
he or she wants to build an extra floor.
The Chairman of the Standing Committee, Mr Yogender
Chandolia, said the issue was of public importance and complaints had
been coming from many residents in the matter. The panel said thousands
of applications were pending for floor-wise sanction and allowing it may
bring good revenue for MCD.
The councillors were told that at a meeting with the Lt
Governor on January 6, in which various agencies took part, it was
decided that no floor-wise sanction should be taken up till the issues
of structural safety, distribution of floor area ratio, impact on
services such as water, electricity, drainage, effect on open space,
lift, parking provisions and compliance of building bylaws as per Master
Plan Delhi (MPD)-2021 were adequately addressed.
The Standing Committee resolved and recommended to MCD
that “floor-wise sanction of building plan be allowed subject to
conditions that the building is certified as structurally sound by the
competent authority and there exists adequate civic amenities in the
area under the building byelaws with additional FAR (floor area ratio)
as per the MPD-2021 without insisting upon signatures of owners of other
portion of the property. Where there is any variation in existing
construction, the same may be regularised, if permitted, under the
rules.”
The Municipal Commissioner, Mr K.S. Mehra, told the
meeting that a “lot of complexities” were involved on the issue and the
MCD would need time to look into it. After this, he was directed to
frame guidelines in the matter within two months. The guidelines will
then have to be approved by LG.
The panel noted that issue of structural safety merited
serious consideration before any sanction was accorded. It also pointed
out that for parking space, there was no provisions up to the plots of
250 sq m, under the MPD-2021. .
“Hence the individual flats on the plot with the area of
250 sq m can be regularised or sanctioned without insisting for parking
provisions with enhanced FAR.”
It noted a Delhi High Court judgement of 2001 which
said, “Once the property is segregated into different portions and
mutated accordingly, there cannot be any requirement of all the
co-owners to sign the building plans. If the plot and the building are
both co-owned, they only the requirement for such co-owners to sign may
at all arise.”
‘Not allowing floor-wise sanction is leading to corruption. Thousands of
applications are pending for floor-wise sanction and allowing it may
bring good revenue for MCD.’
(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated March 17, 2011)
