With ‘zoning maps’, local bodies set to clear buildings near airports

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said zoning maps for all airports would be uploaded eventually so as to reduce human interface in the sanctioning process.

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Mumbai Airport

By the end of the year, construction of buildings around airports in 12 cities across the country can do away with the mandatory civil aviation clearance from the Union government. Colour coded zoning maps, that define the maximum permissible heights for new constructions in different zones around airports, will allow the civil aviation clearance process to be delegated to the urban local bodies in these cities.

In a meeting on “streamlining approval procedures for real estate projects” this month, chaired by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Venkaiah Naidu, aviation ministry officials said maps had been prepared for five metros while the rest would by uploaded on the website of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by January 2016. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said zoning maps for all airports would be uploaded eventually so as to reduce human interface in the sanctioning process.

“The Defence Ministry is yet to start preparing similar zoning maps for the 25 airports that fall within its jurisdiction. Naidu has asked the ministry to coordinate with the civil aviation ministry so that the process is expedited,” said officials.

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Zoning maps have already been prepared for Indira Gandhi International airport and Safdarjung airport in Delhi, domestic and international airports in Mumbai and the under-construction airport in Navi Mumbai, Rajiv Gandhi international airport and Begumpet airport in Hyderabad and Netaji Subhas Chandra International Airport and Behala airport in Kolkata. Maps for Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Lucknow, Jaipur and Nagpur, are set to be uploaded on the AAI website over the next four months.

Each of the colour coded zones in the map have been assigned different vertical limits which increase incrementally for zones further away from the airport. The maximum heights have been fixed for each zone so as to ensure that the airspace required for flight operations and communications is free of hurdles.

“Earlier, every highrise had to individually secure an NOC from aviation ministry. Now projects within prescribed heights can be directly sanctioned by the local municipal body,” said an official. Only projects in the core area closest to the aerodrome, where permissible height is not declared, and those exceeding prescribed height limit in various other zones will have to approach the aviation ministry for its NOC.

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