Builders in swanky areas of Mumbai will now have to allot twice as much space for parking than they did earlier,according to the new norm. The move has come in the wake of ever increasing number of cars ownership in the affluent areas of Malabar Hill,Cumballa Hill,Fort,Colaba,Pali Hill,Bandra,Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme,Sassoon Dock and Napean Sea road. Until now,the parking requirement for buildings in these areas was one parking slot per 45 sq mt (400 sq ft) flat. According to a recent notification issued by the state government,the number has now been increased to two slots for the same size flats in each of the above areas. This would mean that a developer will have to provide for a minimum of four parking slots for a family residing in an average 1000 sq ft flat in any new construction project at Malabar Hill in South Mumbai or Pali Hill in Bandra. As per the new rules,a provision of one parking slot per 45 sq mt flat will also have to be made for all buildings that are taken up for redevelopment in these plush areas. These include buildings that are reconstructed under various schemes such as cluster policy,slum rehabilitation scheme,reconstruction of cessed buildings or buildings destroyed by calamities. The final notification was sanctioned by the state government after listening to suggestions and objections from various affected parties. Exactly a year ago the chief minister had approved the draft notification for increasing parking slots across projects. The draft had also proposed one parking slot for every 40 sq mt of floor area for star hotels as against an earlier requirement of one slot per 60 sq mt. However,the final notification does not make it compulsory for star hotels to provide for any extra parking. Besides this,the mandatory parking slot requirement has been doubled for educational institutions,auditoriums,government and private office complexes,markets,IT parks,industrial units,hospitals,cinema halls,department stores,malls,stadiums and clubs.
