Vertical push for weekend home hotspot near Mumbai

According to the orders issued on February 21, the government has withdrawn the appointment of the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) as the special planning authority (SPA) for the villages. Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) will replace CIDCO as SPA. The government decision will imply that the development plan and development control regulation of VVMC will now become applicable for building permissions in these 21 villages.

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Although the government is yet to include these areas in the corporation, official sources confirmed that the move would lift curbs on height and floor space index for construction activity in these regions.

Some of these villages including Arnala, Pali and Khardi are a hotspot for construction of holiday homes around Mumbai. The other villages to benefit from the move include Arnala Fort region, Patilpada, Mukkam, Tembi, Kolhapur, Chandrapada, Tokri, Khairpada, Vasalai, Rangao, Doliv, Khochiwala, Tivri, Octane, Tarkhad, Maljipada, Tivri, Satpada, and Kalamb.

The state government has argued that the decision was taken to promote planned development of the region and to provide better infrastructure amenities. It has said that the CIDCO, which is also the town planning authority for the Navi Mumbai region, was finding it difficult to perform duties of the SPA.

Meanwhile as reported by The Indian Express on February 1, the state government has eased restrictions on construction activity on lands near defence establishments across Maharashtra. The Indian Express was the first to report that the Devendra Fadnavis government had decided to withdraw a four-year-old circular, which had made it mandatory for land owners, societies, and developers taking up construction activity near defence lands to obtain a prior no-objection certificate (NOC) from defence authorities.

The circular, issued on November 4, 2010, had come in the aftermath of the controversy involving the South Mumbai-based Adarsh housing society. The blanket NOC requirement, which was then made applicable, for all such projects in Mumbai, however also ended up stalling the redevelopment process for over 10,000 people in the middle class pockets in Western and Eastern Suburbs of Mumbai, leading to demand for its withdrawal.

The UD department, on February 21, issued orders withdrawing the circular. The revised norms, however, won’t give developers and landowners a carte blanche.

Shifting the onus on the local town planning authority, the government order makes it responsible for sharing applications received for building permissions near defence establishments with defence authorities without any delay. Defence officials would then have a maximum time period of 30 days to raise objections in writing on the proposal if the local authority intends to permit these. If the local authority and defence officials differ on a particular proposal, it will be referred to the state or the central government.

The orders also say that defence authorities will have to clear all pending NOC proposals within a month. The revised norms won’t be applied for lands governed by the Works of Defence Act, 1903.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com