Kochi: With small buildings along the Aluva – Petta Metro corridor being replaced with multi-storied big buildings, the city is slowly becoming congested. As the state government has relaxed building construction rules, the civic body cannot prevent these constructions.
According to the new rules, if areas along the Metro corridor are congested, the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) on the city outskirts and other areas should be kept low. Increasing the FAR of buildings in the dense, land scarce city will have serious consequences, say town planning experts.
“The city has already exceeded its capacity in many areas including drainage, water supply and other basic amenities. Further, densification which is not based on the city’s structural plan will choke the city which has very few open spaces. The relaxation in FAR, coverage, access and height of buildings will gradually result in indiscriminate construction,” said K.J Sohan, former town planning committee chairman of the City Corporation.
FAR was earlier decided on the basis of the structural plan prepared for the city. However, when the state government relaxed the norms allowing FAR of 4 in the city, it resulted in more vertical constructions in small plots.
FAR is the permissible level of vertical construction, allowed on a plot. In most cities, FAR in the central part of the city is 2. As per the earlier structural plan of the city, FAR in MG Road was 2 while it was 1.5 in Park Avenue and in Chittoor Road. On the NH bypass, the FAR was fixed at 2.5.
“Interestingly, densification is not demand-based as most of the commercial high-rises in the Central Business District like the Revenue Tower in Park Avenue are lying vacant,” added K.J Sohan.
Meanwhile, in the Corporation annual budget, deputy Mayor T.J Vinod has proposed a special development cess for realty development within 500 metres of Metro stations.
