How far is this ratio going
to decide growth?
| The maximum floor-area ratio for the emerging IT hub of Kakkanad has
been set at 2. Builders fear that such low ratios will make Kochi less
competitive. But planners contend that the infrastructure allows only so
much, writes Shyama Raj |
— Photo: K.K. Mustafah
Fresh plans: The new structural plan for Kochi aims at development within the
limits of the available infrastructure. — Photo: K.K. Mustafah
The Department of Town and Country Planning, under the Local
Self-Government Department, has not raised the floor-area ratio (FAR) for Kochi.
Builders had demanded that the ratio be increased on a par with those elsewhere
in the State.
The structural plan for the city has been finalised. It will be in place till
the detailed district plan comes into effect after the department completes the
land-survey programme.
Kochi has been projected as being on the threshold of competition with metro
cities for spiralling growth. George E. George, secretary of Kerala Builders’
Forum, says it was the economics of setting up shop here that had driven big
companies to look up to Kochi as the most favourable investment place.
Now, with a FAR of 2 in Kakkanad, which is developing into an
information-technology hub of the State, the place will no longer be lucrative
for big companies which will not find office space at costs competitive with
those in Bangalore or Hyderabad, he says.
The town planners have their own reason to keep FAR at 2 in the Kakkanad
area. A higher FAR will mean that the place will have to accommodate much more
than what the infrastructure permits, says Chief Town Planner Eapen Varghese.
Commercial activity in housing has squeezed infrastructure at many places. Many
builders have taken sanctions for constructing at a higher FAR, he says.
But the future has to be given some consideration. Vertical growth is all
right. But the fact remains that land-space utilisation has to strike a balance
to provide the right impetus to development. Or else, it will be a cacophony in
the name of development. The town planners will be blamed if the city chokes
after 10 years, Mr. Varghese says.
There is not much difference in the manner in which FAR was earlier notified
in the draft structural plan. But certain changes will augur well for
development across the city.
The maximum FAR provided is 2.5 and the area demarcated falls on various
parts of the expanding seams of the city. Mostly covering the city limits and
some of the vital roads there, it provides scope for much development from the
congested city area in and around the busy Mahatma Gandhi Road.
Prices to rise?
The builders feel that there is not much difference in the draft and the
final notification of the structural plan. Cost of housing is going to go up as
the land costs are high. The low FAR will only push up prices, Mr. George says.
In the zone identified as the central business district, which covers the
main city area, FAR allowed is between 1 and 2, depending on the road width.
For buildings within the block bound by Press Club Road, Market Road,
Shanmughom Road and Banerji Road, the maximum FAR is 1.5 and the maximum
coverage 60 per cent. For buildings abutting Park Avenue from KTDC Junction up
to Durbar hall Road junction to a depth of 45 metres on the eastern side, FAR is
1.5, but the maximum coverage is only 30 per cent. This area permits only public
uses.
Likewise, for buildings abutting Chittoor Road from Banerji Road junction to
Ravipuram Temple Road junction, Convent Road, Hospital Road, T.D. Road and
Durbar Hall road up to a depth of 30 metres, FAR is up to 1.5 and coverage
permitted 60 per cent. For buildings abutting either side of Banerji Road up to
a depth of 30 metres from the central line and Mahatma Gandhi Road up to a depth
of 45 metres from the central line on both sides, the maximum FAR is 2 and
coverage permitted 50 per cent.
For other areas in the central business district, the maximum FAR is 2 with
60 per cent coverage if the access road to the building has a width of 10 metres
and above, 1.5 and 60 per cent if the access road is not less than 7 metres,
1.25 and 50 per cent if it is less that 7 metres wide, and 1 and 50 per cent if
it is less than 5 metres wide. In the last case, only residential use will be
permitted.
In the special provisions provided in the plan, mixed use has been permitted
on either side of the roads with a width of 12 metres up to a depth of 75 metres
from the boundary of the road. In the draft, the depth was 50 metres.
For National Highway 47 bypass from the southern boundary of the city at
Maradu panchayat to Edappally junction and further up to the northern boundary
at Kalamassery, all land uses in residential and commercial zones will be
permitted up to a depth of 250 metres from the road boundary. In the draft, the
depth was only up to 150 metres. Mr. Varghese says that the extra space allowed
will open up a whole lot of area for development within the limits of
infrastructure provisions. The department has also identified some key roads in
the city which encompasses the suburban areas of Thripunithura municipality and
nearby areas, where FAR is up to 2.5.
These are the Ernakulam-Vaikom road from Vyttila to the southern boundary of
the central city, up to the limits of the Udayamperoor panchayat; road from the
Palarivattom-Pipeline junction to the eastern boundary up to where the boundary
of Kalamassery municipality starts; National Highway 17 from Edappally bypass
junction to the northern boundary of the city; the seaport-airport road from
Karingachira junction at Thiruvanmkulam panchayat to northern boundary at
Kalamassery; and Refinery Road from S.N. Junction at Thripunithura to the
eastern boundary of the central city up to Thiruvankulam panchayat limits.
In all the special provisions, the extent of coverage of land for both
residential and commercial projects should be a maximum of 50 per cent.
Regulations of constructions on the sides of new roads or proposed roads for
widening will be governed by the distance from the centreline of the road unless
it is specified in any of the detailed road alignments approved by the chief
town planner.
Zoning regulation is one of the chief aspects in the structural plan that was
proposed in the draft. And the planners are of the opinion that it needs to be
enforced so that the city has a planned growth. All the regulations are not
intended to prohibit existing uses that have been lawfully established earlier,
the notification says.
The planning parameters have also been evolved to guide the preparation of
detailed town planning schemes and development projects, Mr. Varghese says. Work
has already started for this. The land survey for the same has started in a
number of areas, Mr. Varghese adds.
The extended city area has been broadly divided into eight major groups of
use zones — residential, commercial, industrial, public and semi public
grounds, public spaces (parks, playgrounds), transportation, conservation zone
and the central business district. These groups have been further divided into
18 use zones.
In all the use zones, certain identified uses may be permitted on appeal to
the competent authority of either the Senior Town Planner, Ernakulam, or the
Chief Town Planner, as the case may be.
Officials as well as builders believe that such appeals to competent
authority all the way to Thiruvananthapuram need to be changed in the
decentralised system that the Government is trying to provide.
Courtesy: Property Plus, The Hindu
