Devendra Fadnavis push for Uddhav Thackeray’s dream home

The TDR is a development tool that allows land developers additional construction rights over and above the permissible floor space level in redevelopment projects. It is usually generated when a developer or a land owner surrenders land reserved for public amenities in the form of buildable space or rehabilitates slum dwellers or project affected people free of cost. The generated TDR can be traded privately for utilisation on another plot.

The civic body’s building proposals (BP) department had, while declining the permission, contended that the guidelines for the utilisation of the TDR, which it had issued followed a notification issued by the UD on November 16, 2016, disallowed such utilisation.

The UD notification had basically linked the TDR utilisation to the width of the road fronting a property. It had restricted utilisation of TDR on plots abutting a road that were at least nine meters wide, and were marked under the relevant provisions of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act.

Following which, Civic Commissioner Ajoy Mehta had issued a circular on August 23, 2016, that disallowed utilisation of the TDR on plots accessible from or fronting from private layout roads, internal roads, or the ones having right of way from a private access, among others. The restrictions were even made applicable in such cases where the roads were wider than nine meters. According to the guidelines, a property had to be directly accessible from a public street or a municipal road for availing the TDR benefit.

The trouble for the Thackerays was that though their plot is served by a 9.15 meter-wide road, it is an internal road planned within the private layout of the Kalanagar Cooperative Housing Society. Accordingly, when the Thackerays submitted the plan for utilisation of TDR worth 2617 square ft, which was purchased from a Lower Parel slum development in May, the BP department turned down the request, throwing the work for the construction of the upper floors in rough weather.

But the civic body itself left the door open for the Thackerays. Official papers show that on September 16, Mehta wrote a letter to Principal Secretary (Urban Development-1) Dr Nitin Kareer, seeking a clarification on whether the TDR could be permitted on such private roads too. “The municipal corporation is receiving proposals for the utilisation of TDR for development/redevelopment of buildings abutting/fronting existing layout roads, private roads, right of ways, existing non municipal roads, and pre-merger layout roads, among others. In view of the above, the Principal Secretary (Urban Development-1) is requested to issue a clarification regarding allowing the utilisation of TDR on roads other than municipal roads public roads.”

Sources confirmed that the matter was referred to the chief minister. While ties between the Shiv Sena and the BJP have been frosty in recent times, sources further confirmed that Fadnavis has approved a proposal, clarifying that the “status of the roads” would not be insisted for TDR utilisation as long as it has been approved as a “road” by the municipality. To avoid instances of FSI imbalance, the proposal further mandates the execution of a registered agreement between the developer and the BP department, prior to the permission of the utilisation of the TDR, that the width of the road won’t be reduced by the private party under any circumstances. Civic engineers had earlier raised some concerns regarding such FSI imbalance for the development/redevelopment of building abutting/fronting private roads and rights of ways.

Following Fadnavis’s approval, the UD department is expected to soon communicate its stance to the civic body. While senior civic officials said that they were yet to receive any formal communication in this regard, they confirmed that there would be no hurdle to permit the additional construction rights for Thackeray’s construction work, once it arrived. Several other properties in suburban Mumbai are also set to benefit from the ruling.

Plans submitted by the Thackerays to the civic body show that they intend to build two triplex apartments in the new building. On the basis that the TDR utilisation will now be permitted, the Thackerays have planned to construct up to 10, 500 square ft in all. The family has roped in noted architecture firm Talati and Panthaky-Associated Private Limited to design the new building.