Hyderabad: The GHMC has declared that all high-rise buildings including office spaces, malls, hospitals, schools, colleges and multiplexes will have to submit an assessment certificate — on how they will impact traffic — along with their building permits to assess new buildings’ impact on traffic volume.
A corporation official said the initiative is a first of its kind in the country. He said property owners of high-rise buildings and commercial establishments will have to contribute to the infrastructure to be constructed by the civic body to accommodate any additional traffic caused by such structures.
Officials said contribution does not necessarily imply monetary contribution and could entail provision of additional space during road widening or the construction of an alternative link to the concerned road to ease the resultant traffic burden.
The corporation has prepared a set of guidelines for each building based on its business activities to prevent irregularities or fake traffic impact assessments.
This was done following a study conducted by LEA Associates South Asia Pvt Ltd of the situation of city roads wider than 100 feet. The GHMC had asked the consultant to submit a report explaining traffic jams on such roads. The agency in its report said gaps in issuing building permissions are responsible for the current traffic situation.
Sources said the corporation has concentrated on parking spaces, set backs, greenery, rainwater harvesting pits but not on the lines of commercial establishments. Although high-rise buildings are supposed to provide 44 per cent parking space to accommodate vehicles, they have done nothing about the traffic snarls they cause on adjacent roads.
The corporation, for instance, would accord building permission to a mall comprising multiplex theatres with a total seating capacity of 2000 if it provides parking facility for 750 vehicles.
During the weekends, however, window shoppers, early film patrons, and gamers (in malls with gaming zones) overburden the existing parking facility thereby directly impacting the free flow of the traffic.
To avoid such instances, the corporation in collaboration with the traffic police has prepared guidelines for all high-rise buildings depending on their nature of business.
GHMC Chief City Planner (CCP) S. Devender Reddy said the traffic impact assessment certificate will be made mandatory in addition to the other documents required to be furnished to secure building permits.
He said building owners will be held accountable for any additional traffic burden they cause on existing roads.
Building owners will be liable to increase the size of the concerned roads or construct a link road or contribute a share of the total cost of corridor improvement undertaken by the GHMC, he said. "This will apply to structures coming up adjacent to city roads 100 feet or wider, up to 250 feet. This initiative is the first of its kind in the country," he said.
