A recent notification says height curbs for building projects will now span a radius of just 2km from the airport against the earlier 20km.
The real estate industry in Mumbai had strongly objected to the 20km rule, stating it was an “error” because prior to the 2015 notification, the height restriction radius had been just 2km from the airport. “It took us five years to convince the ministry to rectify the mistake,” property industry sources said.
After the 2015 notification was issued, builders who sought civil aviation permission for their towers on certain plots in central Mumbai were shocked when approvals were given with curtailed heights.
Kunal Chheda, chairman of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI)’s technical committee on civil aviation, told TOI after 2015, heights of many buildings reduced by as much as 25% in these areas. Builders who applied for permissions after 2015 were getting 10% to 25% reduced height in Mahim, Worli and Prabhadevi, depending on the location of the plot. This belt was the most affected,” he said.
A real estate expert cited the example of a tower in Worli which was cleared to rise to 225 metres prior to 2015. Another building in the vicinity, whose developer applied for permission after the 2015 notification, found the sanction restricted to 198m.
“The latest notification will lead to substantial enhancement of building heights in projects in south-central Mumbai to pre-’15 levels,” said a developer.
Soon after the 2015 notification, a working group was formed and it comprised representatives of developers, the civil aviation ministry, Airports Authority of India and technical experts to investigate complaints. “We studied global regulations and appointed international consultants and found the ADS-B height restrictions are only for a radius of 2km,” said Chheda.
The new ministry notification said a height no-objection certificate (NOC) granted to a developer will now be valid for up to 12 years. Earlier, it was only up to eight years.
“Many developers with old NOCs with larger heights would find building heights reduced when they wanted to validate the NOC. This will not happen now,” said sources.
Architect Vilas Nagalkar said the relaxation in height restrictions should be extended to Andheri East and Chembur.
