The Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) board on Thursday adopted the amendments to the building by-laws that were notified in November by the Uttar Pradesh housing and urban planning department, authority officials said. .
According to the officials, the the amended building by-laws are intended to resolve parking issues, and also to put certain restrictions on saleable floor area ratio (FAR) component, the authority officials said.
GDA vice-chairperson Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the board has adopted the amended by-laws, adding, “We have sent our decision to the state department. Now, the amendments have come into effect”.
The new building map layouts will include the changes and they will soon be updated on the computerised map approval system of GDA, Kumar added.
As per the new amendments, the provision of stilt parking will be applicable to all type of houses in the city. This will not be accounted for calculation of purchasable floor area ratio (FAR), but will be counted as part of the building’s height. Officials said that this will ease the problem of haphazard on-street parking across the city, they said.
“Now, the buildings may have an open area to be used for parking. However, if the area is covered on two or more sides, it will be added to the FAR,” the amendment said.
This provision was so far available only for the group housing societies and multi-storeyed buildings.
According to the amendments, there will be provision of 23 sqm, 28 sqm and 32sqm (of circulation area for equivalent car space) for parking purpose in open area parking, covered parking, and basement parking, respectively, for all plots of all categories having a total area of up to 200 sqm (for every 100 sqm of constructed floor).
They added that for plots measuring more than 200sqm, an additional area of 16sqm (or on the basis of actual design) and two sqm will be allowed for mechanised parking and two-wheelers (including for bicycles), respectively.
The FAR is a component that allows for constructions on a plot of land up to a limit defined in building by-laws. The purchasable FAR is a component available over and above the regular FAR which can be availed to carry out more constructions and an additional charge needs to be paid to the development authority.
According to the officials, another major amendment includes the provision which states that the developers will have to apply for purchasable FAR at the time of obtaining permission for construction and charges will be recovered before sanctioning the layout map.
“The construction taken on account of purchasable FAR without permission will not be compoundable (regularisation on payment of charges),” the amended by-laws state.
CP Tripathi, additional secretary, GDA, said the GDA board has adopted the amended by-laws. One of the amended provision states that the developers will have to obtain purchasable FAR beforehand and no compounding will be allowed later.
“Such constructions, if found in violation of norms, can also be demolished besides and legal action may also be initiated,” the officer added.
In addition to the minimum area and width of residential room at 9.5 sqm and width of 2.4 metres, the new amendments add that a second room will have minimum area of 7.5sqm and minimum width of 2.1 metres.
Pradeep Gupta, chairman of trans-Hindon builders welfare association said the amended by-laws include certain updates for planned development.
“The provision of stilt for parking will pave way for resolving parking issues and discouraging on road parking which often prove inconvenient for commuters,” he added.