7 civic corporations near Mumbai to get uniform development rules

MUMBAI: In a boost to the realty sector, seven municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), excluding Mumbai, will soon get uniform development rules. The base floor space index (FSI) for these corporations will be increased to 1.1 from the current 1, while the maximum will be 3 (at present 2) depending upon the road width.
The decision to have uniform rules has been taken given the corporations' proximity to Mumbai and similar characteristics of land use.The seven corporations are Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Ulhasnagar and Bhiwandi-Nizampur.
The 15% FSI for recreation ground, which is now off bounds, will be available under the new rules. While transfer of development rights (TDR) will continue to be allowed, there will be no fungible FSI, which is allowed only in Mumbai. For slums and affordable housing, the maximum FSI will be 3.
As per the 2011 census, the MMR population is approximately 21 million. Illegal construction is rampant, while civic infrastructure for solid waste management is either negligible or non-existent. Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli have even been selected for the Smart Cities Mission although implementation of projects under the mission is very slow.
In the draft proposal issued in 2017, the government had proposed an FSI of 4 in the transit oriented zones (TOD). The Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) had strongly objected to the high FSI, pointing out that most roads that pass through these corporation areas are state and national highways and alleged the high FSI was implemented merely to regularise the high-rises that have come up on these stretches.
UDRI had objected to large chunks of property being given for integrated township projects, depriving citizens of self-governance.
"It has been decided to allow cluster redevelopment with an FSI of 4 only in Thane. In case of the other municipal corporations, this decision has been kept in abeyance," said sources. The government for now has also decided to keep in abeyance the decision to allow an FSI of 4 in the TOD zone as also the integrated township projects, said sources.
The draft had proposed quarrying in dense residential areas as well as mobile towers without studying its impact on the health of residents, said UDRI. While quarrying will be allowed, the mobile towers have been done away with, said sources.
Vilas Nagalkar, architect and member of Practising Engineers, Architects and Town Planning Association, said the neighbouring municipal corporations had similar issues and a uniform set of regulations would prove beneficial. "We have always been of the opinion that higher FSI should be given provided open spaces are not compromised," he said.