Just when the entire country was looking towards the Hyderabad model of urban planning in doing away with the Floor Space Index (FSI), also known as Floor Area Ratio (FAR), the government seems to having a rethink on the issue.
It has announced the formation of a special committee under the chairmanship of HMDA Commissioner and with other members being the GHMC Commissioner and the HMWSSB Managing Director as members and Director of Town & Country Planning (DTCP) as the member-convener to study the issue of FSI afresh.
Common building rules
Almost seven years ago, the government came out with the common building rules where the specific FSI and plot coverage stipulations were removed.
The permissible coverage would be as per the minimum setback to be left within the given site and same is continued in the A.P. Building Rules 2012 made applicable for all the urban areas in the State.
However, it was brought to the government’s notice that in certain cases like stepped type and podium/tower buildings higher FSI was being achieved. Also, in case of high rise buildings (more than 15 metres high or above five floors) in bigger plots more FSI is being realised.
Assessing impact
The newly constituted committee is to, therefore, assess the impact of present building rules on the urban infrastructure like roads, sewer lines, traffic, etc., as a result of more FSI and submit a detailed report to the government for taking necessary action.
Analysis
It will also do a comparative analysis of the situation prevalent prior to issue of the common building rules and after they were issued.
The committee will also look into the FSI/FAR norms in different States especially for high-rise buildings, study the density aspects resulting out of present rules in relation to infrastructure available and suggest if any modifications are required to the building rules, as per the official orders issued.
The high-powered panel has to come out with measures to promote solar energy and recycling of waste water.
