Now, PCB plan cut to size!

PUNE, June 17: Elected members of the Pune Cantonment Board PCB today vehemently opposed the proposal placed by the cantonment executiv...

PUNE, June 17: Elected members of the Pune Cantonment Board PCB today vehemently opposed the proposal placed by the cantonment executive officer CEO J Sharma to impose stringent restrictions on the heights of buildings on the grounds that it was not 8220;practical.8221; The members, however, agreed to the suggestion put forth by Sharma to curb the misuse of basements and reserve these only for parking purposes.

At the general body meeting held here on Tuesday, senior member Vinod Sanghvi demanded to know the rationale behind restricting the height of buildings from 18 to 15 metres. He felt that curbing the heights of buildings would not serve the purpose since this would not take into account the provisions made for lofts in each floor of a building. Swift calculations by the cantonment officials revealed that this would require at least 17.5 metres and hence the board gave into Sanghvi8217;s suggestion of maintaining a status quo on the heights of buildings.

Sanghvi strongly opposed Sharma8217;s proposal of deleting the use of the word 8220;barsaati8221; and stated that a 8220;barsaati8221; was essentially meant as a shelter from rains and felt that the board should have no hesitation in permitting a mere rooftop without the side walls. The definition of 8220;barsaati8221; earlier included enclosure on all sides of the building. Board president Brig Madan Gopal was in agreement with Sanghvi.

The members also struck down the suggestion of the CEO to keep the minimum height of each habitable floor in the case of residential buildings to 12 feet pointing out that this did not include the provisions for a loft on each floor which would require at least 16 feet. Without a loft, however, the floor heights shall be restricted to 12 feet. In case of commercial buildings, the height of the ground floor again has been restricted to 16 feet instead of the height of 14 feet suggested by the CEO.

No basements will henceforth be permitted in bungalow areas while the use of basements in civil areas shall be restricted to setting up garages, air conditioning units and parking. The board was in agreement over the removing the clauses for permitting basements for storing household goods, using it as a dark room, kitchens or libraries.

CEO Sharma said that the final draft of the byelaws shall be prepared and submitted to the Central Government for approval. Following this, the cantonment will invite objections from citizens and after lending a hearing to the relevant objections, the amended byelaws shall come into force.