Department of defence issues height restrictions, now 4 FSI along Pune Metro corridors not possible

Getting a floor space index (FSI) of four along the Metro corridor has now become impossible in Pune as the department of defence has brought in height restrictions, in and around a six-km radius of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Lohegaon airport, which accounts for around 50 per cent of Pune city’s area.

As per the defence department’s notification, a copy of which is with HT, high-rise buildings will not be allowed in Aundh, Baner, Karvenagar, Kothrud, Koregaon park, Warje, Kalyaninagar, Kharadi, Dhanori, Vimannagar, Lohegaon, Dhayari and Ahmednagar road areas.

As builders expressed panic over the notification, Saurabh Rao, municipal commissioner, said, “We are going to raise the issue with the state and central government.”

Almost all constructions falling in these areas would now need to take a ‘no objection certificate’ from the department of defence. While the notification was of the year 2015, it is being executed only recently the areas were identified by the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) and the defence department.

The notification, issued by the Indian Air Force, stated, “The colour coded zoning map is strictly for possession of local municipal authority/municipal commissioner, Pune and NDA Khadakwasla is to be used for the purpose of determining the requirement of seeking NOC for ‘height clearance’ from the Indian Air Force for regulating heights of buildings/structures around NDA and Air Force station, Pune under the provision of the Gazette of India.”

Satish Magar, national president, confederation of real estate developer’s association of India (CREDAI), said, “This is a wrong notification which would affect the development in Pune. The airports are within the city and this is not the fault of the citizens.”

“We respect the defence establishment and understand the matter of security, but what will they do with the existing buildings, which do not fit their norms, added Magar.

A municipal officer, on condition of anonymity, said that almost 60 per cent of the city land falls under these areas and it will become difficult for developers and citizens to take permission for construction from the defence department, even though the process is online. An officer from the building permission department said that they have prepared a note about the existing problem and pointed out how the government’s policies are contradicting each other. PMC had proposed 4 FSI along the Metro corridor and also allowed more FSI for old structure development, which is not possible due to the notification.

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Satish Magar, national president, CREDAI

The government’s policies are contradictory. On one hand, the government wants vertical development of the city and allowed 4 FSI in Pune along the Metro corridors under the transit oriented policy and on the other hand, it is issuing such notifications. Four FSI along the metro corridor is not possible considering the height limits introduced by the department of defence.

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The citizens will need to submit documents with the survey of India before submitting it to the defence department for aerial distance and height restrictions. The survey of India is already flooded with 200 applications and have now put a notice at their office stating that they will not entertain any proposal till August 31, 2018.

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The Pune municipal corporation gives around 25,000 building permissions in these areas every year. If all the citizens approach the defence department for the no objection certificate, the defence department would need to establish special staff for issuing the permission, which is not their priority work, said an official from the PMC on condition of anonymity.