Governments and real estate barons always dream of building commercial skyscrapers, but they have been hampered by lack of regulations on this count. Now, the Telangana Disaster Response and Fire Services Department has come out with new regulations for structures more than 10 floors or 30 metres high to 15 floors or 45 metres clearing the path.
With no Floor Space Index or Ratio (FSI/FSR) in TS, building height is being determined by plot size and abutting road widths, but this was for residential towers only. Even the National Building Code (NBC) has not prescribed rules for commercial structures higher than 10 floors especially for large gatherings and the new regulations will fill the gap, said Director General Rajiv Ratan.
New rules make it mandatory for ‘Refuge area’ for people to assemble at every floor above 10 floors in case of an emergency, a ‘Fire Tower’ at one of the stair cases - for smoke free evacuation - apart from prescribed fire extinguishers, hose reels, hydrants, automatic sprinklers and fire alarms, manual fire alarms, terrace tanks, etc.
Structural stability of such buildings have to be checked by the municipal or planning bodies like GHMC or HMDA but schools will not be allowed above 10 floors as per Supreme Court guidelines. Even movie screens also will not be allowed because of huge public gathering and issues relating to emergency evacuations, explained the DG.
TSDRFS thought of the new regulations when ‘Wonderla Holidays’ sought a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for its Sky Wheel Tower in the capital outskirts for a total height of 77 metres. With Government’s permission, a five-member panel headed by the DG and G.V. Narayana Rao, Deputy Director, B. Harinath Reddy, District Fire Officer; K. Anand Babu, Director of Town Planning and P. Gangadhar, Regional Director, National Academy of Construction, as members, looked into the issue and submitted a report.
The panel recommended additional fire safety measures for issuing a NOC for special structures above 30 meters and below 45 meters height. This was accepted and Home Secretary Anita Rajendra issued orders last week making amendments to the Telangana Fire and Emergency Operations and Levy of Fee Rules 2006.
Accordingly, user charges for these high-rises will be Rs.100 per square metre for entire built-up area including the existing built-up in addition to the Fire Precaution fee.
