For more than a year, many citizens have put the redevelopment of their old properties on the backburner and even new construction plans.
Several big time builders/real estate developers too are sitting on their building plans.
They are all waiting for common building rules to be enforced in all urban areas throughout the State.
The eagerness is because there are proposals to relax setbacks and few other issues that are likely to benefit the small land owners.
The big property dealers are looking to get their massive projects going once the issue of providing mandatory built up space for the Low Income Groups (LIG) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is sorted out.
“There is a virtual halt to several housing projects from January 2011 due to the policy inaction. In retrospect, the haste at which the 20 per cent mandatory built up space for the LIG/EWS order was issued has led to the current impasse,” observed senior officials of the municipal administration department.
Recommendations
Discussions and debates on the mandatory built up space only began after the orders were issued.
Teams of officials were sent to different cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, etc., even while a high powered committee led by the GHMC Commissioner studied the issue and submitted a list of recommendations to alter the order.
In between the builders/real estate developers too did their own lobbying putting up their concerns over implementing the rule.
After all these hectic consultations people have been waiting in hope for revised orders on the mandatory built up space as well as the comprehensive building rules in the place of five different orders.
“GHMC alone has lost at least Rs.60-70 crore because of the complete halt to submission of applications seeking permissions for major housing projects to come up in large tracts of land. Earlier, we used to get close to 100 applications for big projects. No one is coming forward now,” they say.
High powered panel
The high powered committee has suggested a shelter fee be charged for housing projects in lands of up to 2.5 acres, five per cent each to LIG/EWS or 25 per cent units, permission to build these units within a 10 km range from the sanctioned project site, allow developers to pool in their mandatory spaces to take up constructions, etc.
But, the final decision is pending. Interestingly, cities like Bangalore have set aside the clause and have been issuing permits to the large housing projects!
