No-go for realty near Chennai bird reserves

CHENNAI: Builders will have to steer clear of all areas within a radius of 5km around wildlife sanctuaries in Chennai and surrounding localities. To start with, the forest department has declared areas around three sanctuaries — Vedanthangal, Karikili and Pulicat — no-go zones for real estate developers and banned any kind of real estate ventures there.

A team of forest officials led by forest range officer R Dhanasekaran explained the restrictions on new constructions and repair of existing structures within 5km of the three sanctuaries to residents, elected representatives including panchayat presidents and village administrative officials of 20 villages, at a meeting organized by the state forest department in Vedanthangal bird sanctuary on Sunday.

The restrictions are meant to ensure that there will be no change in land pattern around the sanctuaries because, forest officials said, such changes could stop birds from migrating to the sanctuaries and play havoc with their migratory patterns.

Some of the migratory birds that flock to these three sanctuaries are the Little Cormorant, Night Heron, Grey Heron, Spoonbill, Little Egret, Large Egret, White Ibis, Cattle Egret, Pintail, Common Teal, Pond Heron or paddybird, Shoveller Duck, Dabchick, Indian Moorhen, Darter or snakebird, Grey Pelican and Open-Bill Stork.

Thandarai, Karunkulazhi, Mangalam, Nellavai Kutt Road, Rettamangalam, Vaiyyur, Perumbakkam and Vellaputhur are among the villages where the restrictions will come into place.

"We organised the meeting on the instructions of wildlife warden V Karunapriya. Such meetings will be held continuously and we will monitor activity in these areas to prevent violation of the restrictions," said R Dhanasekaran, forest range officer of the Vedanthangal, Karikili and Pulicat bird sanctuaries.

Forest officials said there is a general lack of awareness in these areas, even among village heads and village administrative officers, on laws and rules to protect the environment, animals and birds. The state's department of town and country planning (DTCP) had in August 2011 issued a notice to a developer for not obtaining prior permission to construct a farmland resort less than half a kilometre from Vedanthangal bird sanctuary. The DTCP also sent a notice to Vedanthangal village panchayat president Vasanthi Lakshmi for approving the plot.

The area around a bird sanctuary is usually wetland. "Areas near the sanctuaries are also feeding and breeding grounds for various birds," said S Saravanan, chief education officer, World Wildlife India (Tamil Nadu chapter). "Migratory birds regularly visit sanctuaries only after checking for regular availability of water and identifying if they are suitable for breeding. Such areas should be protected."

Apart from real estate ventures, restrictions also placed on construction of factories, industrial units and mining in the three sanctuaries. The restrictions are based on a Supreme Court order and instructions from the National Board for Wildlife (NBW) prohibiting any non-forest activities in areas around all sanctuaries.

Residents of these areas have, however, been given permission to repair their houses and also to construct new houses if they meet stipulated standards for height and width.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/No-go-for-realty-near-Chennai-bird-reserves/articleshow/15368625.cms

Chennai realty sees short-term lul in premium FSI allocation

Chennai

Premium floor space index (FSI), when introduced by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) three years ago, was seen as a tool that could encourage vertical growth of the city. FSI is the ratio of land area to the built-up space.

Over these years, it has proved its potential to be a money spinner for the builder community and the regulatory agency aswell. While builders have cashed in on the steep hike in market prices, the CMDA has generated additional revenue of 520 crore through collection of premium charges for the additional FSI sanctioned.

Starting with a meagre 6 crore collection in 2009-10, the revenue from premium FSI charges shot up to 160 crore the following year and scaled further up to 300 crore last financial year. In the first two months of the current year, the CMDA has earned 50 crore through allocation of premium FSI.

The euphoria over premium FSI seems to have paused for now owing to the recent exponential hike, on April 1, in the guideline values. As the premium charges for the additional FSI is calculated based on the guideline values, it does not make economic sense to avail premium FSI when the guideline values are higher than the market value, said Prakash Challa, former vice-president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India. The situation in the outskirts of the city, where guideline values have gone up by even 10 times, the situation is still worse.

But, the first two months of the current year have yielded good revenue for the CMDA through sale of premium FSI because “most of those cases had got sanctions last financial year. Hence, they have paid the premium chargeson the basis of earlier guideline values” said an official. A sizeable segment of people, who apply for premium FSI are those constructing buildings for self use, noted Challa.They would continue to avail the facility, he felt.

Going by the rate of growth in residential prices in thecity in the last five years, the lull may be short-lived. The residential price index of the National Housing Bank shows that apartment prices have shot up by three times in the central business districts of thecity since2007. Even the backwater regions of the city command an apartment price of 7,000 to 8,000 per sq ft now.

Meantime, the Directorate of Town and Country Planning, the regulatory agency for the rest of the state, is on the verge of introducing premium FSI in its limits. “It has become a necessity with the introduction of the development control rules for the DTCP last year,” said an official.

Source: The Times of India, Chennai

Tamil Nadu Master Plan to be drafted soon

Chennai

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to roll out a master plan soon for the state with a view to reining in haphazard development.

The massive exercise, covering 1.24 lakh sq km, will adhere to the norms prescribed by the Urban Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (UDPFI) and will be designed to cater to the needs of the state over the next 30 years, sources said. The plan will, however, exclude the Chennai Metropolitan Area and regions where master plans were released in the last 10 years. The Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) is the nodal agency for implementing the project.

As it is a complex task, the DTCP will outsource some work to universities, notably Anna University, which has a department specializing in town planning. Spread over three years, the project, in the first year, will cover about 8,000sqkm of urban areas like corporations, municipalities, and town panchayats, and the adjoining village panchayats.

Source: The Times of India, Chennai