Redevelopment of Marine Drive properties to follow new norms in Mumbai

Unless the guidelines are opposed in court and the Supreme Court says otherwise, these are currently applicable to residents of the Marine Drive precinct. People can apply for redevelopment under the listed norms,” said a senior civic official.

Under the new guidelines, the height of the front row buildings along Marine Drive may be raised from the existing limit of 24 metres to 32 metres while the row of buildings behind that may be raised from 24 metres to 58 metres. Of the other two zones in Marine Drive, the draft guidelines propose that the height of the Gymkhana zone be increased from 11-14 metres to 24 metres and of Chowpatty zone be increased from 21 metres to 32 metres. The BMC’s legal team submitted the guidelines to the apex court on June 22 as an additional affidavit filed in response to a Special Leave Petition filed by the owner of the Vasant Sagar building in 2014.

In 2012, former municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar had given permission for the redeveloped Vasant Sagar building to build up to 58 metres in height, well beyond the norm for the rest of the precinct of 24 metres. The matter entered into a litigation and the Bombay High Court cancelled permissions granted by the civic body. The case is currently pending in the Supreme Court. The first set of draft guidelines for the ‘Marine Drive precinct’ was prepared by the then heritage committee to the municipal commissioner in 2013.

Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta drafted the final guidelines in January last year, acting on directions given by the Supreme Court.  Members of the MHCC felt the guidelines needed to be studied carefully to ensure that the character of the Art Deco precinct was maintained.

A study was subsequently undertaken under Rajiv Mishra, principal of the JJ College of Architecture. In his report, Mishra considered factors such as the age of the building, feasibility of future development and suggested that different zones with general guidelines be allowed while maintaining the overall character of the precinct.

Though the BMC’s submission was accepted by the apex court last week and the guidelines can now be implemented according to officials, members of the Federation of Churchgate Residents have raised objections to the new guidelines.

The federation filed a reply with the Supreme Court on July 25 raising certain objections. “In our reply, we have said that the BMC’s guidelines are not in accordance with the law. For instance, the guidelines do not consider the height of buildings vis a vis the width of the roads in the area and that their line of vision test is not a reasonable way of assessment.

We have also objected to Mr Mishra’s report which does not mention the height of the buildings even once,” said Rahul Hakani, an advocate representing the residents. The residents are apprehensive that while the matter is still sub judice, other buildings can currently apply for increasing the height under redevelopment projects.

arita.sarkar@expressindia.com