February 6, 2018

The Centre has thrown open green zones and no-development zones to encourage construction of affordable housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY).

Construction in green zones and no-development zones (NDZs) is being allowed as a concession to encourage affordable housing. The state has a target of creating 19.4 lakh affordable houses by 2022 under the central scheme PMAY.

While the floor space index (FSI)—the ratio which defines how much can be built on a plot—for green zones and NDZ has been fixed at 1, for other areas it is 2.5.

Last month, the Centre came out with a policy detailing eight models through which affordable housing is to be carried out.

Likewise, the state housing department issued a government resolution (GR) on January 18 reiterating the policy. Other than listing the various models, the state GR also mentioned certain concessions offered by the government, including construction in green zones and NDZs.

Mantralaya officials said affordable housing will be allowed in green zones and NDZs if the development control regulations of the local urban body allow for it.

"In Aarey Colony, which is a green zone, we have marked an area for relief and rehabilitation of tribals on the request of the forest department," said a senior civic official. For relief and rehabilitation, the FSI is 4.

Similarly, on government, semi-government and other authority land falling in NDZ, the FSI allowed is 3 for affordable housing, provided it is a contiguous four-hectare plot. The carpet area for tenements is 30 square metres (300 square feet) for economically weaker sections, 45 sq m (450 sq ft) for low-income groups and 60 sq m (600 sq ft) for middle-income groups.

Mumbai's NDZs include salt pan lands and the BMC has marked roughly 600 acres of these for affordable housing. This, even as an MMRDA report in 2016 said barely 25 acres of such land can be developed.

State housing officials said none of the central government agencies that own land in Mumbai had offered land for the PMAY.

"Several central government agencies own huge tracts of land in Mumbai. We have written to all of them requesting that they give surplus land for the affordable housing scheme. None has responded to the request and several have already written back saying they have no surplus land," said an official.

The official further said green zones do not include forests and mangroves but do encompass agricultural land. Aarey Colony, which has been marked as a green zone, has a reservation for relief and rehabilitation of tribals residing in Aarey.

Aarey is also an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Approximately 165 hectares of the colony have been excluded from the ESZ.

The state government, in its first-ever change to the Draft Development Plan 2034, excluded 33 hectares from the green zone for the Metro-III car shed. While 30 hectares are for the metro car shed, the government has said there will be no commercial exploitation of the three hectares being used for a casting yard. It, though, has not clarified whether housing will be allowed on this plot.

NGO Vanashakti, which has been fighting for Aarey to be maintained as a forest, has alleged that the casting yard is being proposed to be used for housing. "The floor space index allowed in case of a metro is 3 and which can be increased to 5 if it is an IT park," said D Stalin, Director Conservation, Vanashakti.

P K Das, architect and town planner, said construction in green zones and NDZs contradicts the Prime Minister’s commitment to the Paris climate change accord.

"There is no shortage of land and development potential in the city. Allowing construction in these areas is destructive and kills the environment," he said.

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Source: magicbricks.com