The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., (BMRCL) has said that No Objection Certificates (NOC) to properties falling within 150 metres of proposed metro stations will be issued only on a reference from a civic agency, such as the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike or Bangalore Development Authority or Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board or Bangalore Electricity Supply Company .
Until now, Bangalore Metro used to directly receive applications for issue of NOC either for construction of a building or for additional floor area ratio (FAR) for an existing or proposed building. After receiving the application, Bangalore Metro personnel used to inspect the site and issue the endorsement.
A BMRCL circular on Wednesday stated that in some cases it was found that such endorsements had landed the company in unnecessary litigation; unwanted because it is neither the duty nor the privilege of Bangalore Metro to receive such applications and issue endorsements. “We need to receive such applications only from the regulatory authority concerned, namely, BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, BESCOM etc., who have to give approval under the law,” said BMRCL Managing Director N. Sivasailam. BMRCL is not the plan-sanctioning authority either and such endorsements can be issued only on a reference from these agencies.
Zoning regulation
Effecting an amendment to the Zoning Regulations of Master Plan 2015 of the BDA, the State Government had on March 2, 2009, stated that areas which fall within 150 metres from the outer boundary of the metro station/terminals, shall be eligible for a maximum FAR of 4 for all permissible uses, irrespective of the FAR applicable. However, this had to be confirmed by BMRCL, the circular said.
The amendment was effected to provide additional sources of revenue to those owning land adjacent to metro stations who had lost portions of the same for the Namma Metro work.
Misuse
Sources in Bangalore Metro said that until now, utilising this provision, many property owners used to approach the company directly seeking NOCs. The endorsement was being presented as plan sanctioned by Bangalore Metro by some unscrupulous landowners even though it was the responsibility of either BBMP or BDA to sanction the building plans, the sources said.
Therefore, Bangalore Metro has now decided to consider only such applications routed through the civic agencies and not to entertain applications directly from property owners.
