Mumbai:Foundation laid for greener and safer skyscrapers

BMC Norms To Free Space, Ease Parking Woes

Linah Baliga TNN 

Mumbai: A city that looks like a cramped row of shiny, tall matchboxes in places, Mumbai is finally going to get some respite. The civic body has accepted a set of guidelines that make it mandatory for developers to build safer, better, airier high-rises. 
    The norms, which were formulated by a state-appointed committee under the chairmanship of retired Justice Shafi Parkar demand that at least 20m space be left between skyscrapers, parking space be provided for guests' vehicles and the use of glass facades be minimized. 
    They dictate that swimming pools be built on lower storeys of a highrise, enough importance be given to 
the forecourt area, and commercial high-rises have pedestrian and clear spaces. Right at the time of furnishing their proposals, developers must specify the planned building's water needs and its impact on the neighbourhood, water sources, water distribution system as well as the estimated sewerage generated by the skyscraper's residents and how it will be treated. 
    A high-rise, as defined officially, is a building at least 70 m high or with minimum 20 storeys. Put together, the regulations are bound to slow down, if not altogether check, the rapidly decline of the city. If implemented rigorously, they will create more free space, decongest roads, preserve streetscapes and, help the environment. 
Tall Order 

• No permission for high-rise unless the plot is about 1,000 sq m or more 

• A distance of at least 20 m must between two buildings 

• Parking space for visitors' vehicles mandatory 

• Provision has to be made for two staircases 

• Use of glass facade must be kept to minimum 

• No swimming pools on the upper storeys 14 proposals okayed under new guidelines New Rules On High-Rises Aim To Create Free Space, Decongest Roads & Preserve Streetscapes We have decided that the minimum area where a highrise can come up should be 1,000 sq m and that there should be a space of 20 metres between two high-rises. There should also be a 20-metre-wide road abutting the high-rise," explained Parkar. 
    Parkar's committee was set up in 2010 after the previous panel's suggestions were overruled by the civic body on the grounds that they did not fit in with the development control regulations. 
    In December last year, the new committee directed the chief engineer of the civic development and planning department not to accept new proposals till the committee finalized the guidelines. Once the norms were completed and accepted this year, the committee cleared 14 proposals. 
    Called the new 'environmental and contextual guidelines', they say that there should be a distance of at least 20 metres between two high-rises to provide a breather and to improve safety against hazards. 
    Also, there should be two staircases in each highrise—one minimum 2 metres in width and the other at least 1.5 metres wide—to prevent "a stampede during an earthquake". 
    The committee also directed that easily accessible pedestrian walkways be created between high-rises and open spaces like playgrounds and recreation grounds. 
    "We have insisted on separate parking facilities for cars, cycles and bikes of visitors to prevent congestion on road. Also, the use of glass facade should be kept to minimum. New high-rises should not come in the way of landmarks and historic buildings," said Parkar. 
    Besides the guidelines, the committee has also formalized a format for proposals to build high-rises. From now on, developers have to furnish all kinds of details—including names and addresses of the architect, the geostructural engineer and the project manager—while proposing a skyscraper project. 
TALL ORDER 
The road adjoining the building should be minimum 20 m wide 
Wind movement around the high-rise has to be analysed from microclimate point of view 
The road facing the building's facade should not be featureless