Buildings taller than 120m can have pools on terraces

The high-rise building committee (HRBC) of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to allow the construction of swimming pools on terraces of buildings taller than 120 metres or with 36 floors and more.

In a recently-held meeting, the committee decided, on the basis of the provisions in the Development Control and Promotional Regulations (DCPR) 2034, that swimming pools on terraces should be allowed provided the building is above 120 metres and the builder offers justification for not being able to construct the pool at ground level. Most new residential towers in Mumbai fulfil the height requirement. The BMC said it has received around 20 proposals for high-rise buildings above 120 metres since March 2019. Of these, six have already been cleared.

At the HRBC meeting held last month, VR More, chief engineer of BMC’s vigilance department and a member of the HRBC, said that the new DCPR 2034 allowed swimming pools at the terrace level and defined high-rises as buildings that are 120 metres tall. Earlier, under the guidelines of DCPR 1991, the definition of a high-rise was 70 metres and swimming pools on terraces were not allowed.

According to the minutes of the meeting, which HT has a copy of, More said that the builder must “give justifiable reason for providing the swimming pool at terrace level”. Swimming pools on terraces would be allowed “if there is no space available or there is planning constraint in proposing the swimming pool at ground or podium level”.

A BMC official said, “Until now, permissions for swimming pools or private pools were given in very rare cases, in case a special permission was given by the municipal commissioner. But now, there is more clarity considering high-rises will be given permission for the same.” Now the BMC will allow the construction of such pools on condition that the builder receives a no-objection certificate from the Mumbai Fire Brigade, which will issue a set of guidelines for these cases.

The National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the apex body of real estate developers in the city, and the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI-CREDAI) had previously made presentations to the BMC, to allow swimming pools on terraces of high-rises. Niranjan Hiranandani, developer and national president of NAREDCO, said, “It is a good thing that BMC has accepted allowing swimming pools on terraces of high-rises.”

Developer Harshul Savla, who is also a member of MCHI, said, “The concept is very common internationally and it is better that we too have a fair policy on this. It is a welcome move that the BMC has now thought of allowing swimming pools on terraces considering in a city like Mumbai, the plot size and planning has limited scope for such amenities.”