1K illegal buildings in Ulhasnagar to be regularised; govt to give more FSI

Chief minister Eknath Shinde announced the government’s nod for the regularisation of the illegal buildings in Ulhasnagar. Most of the buildings and their developers resorted to violations of rules related to FSI, marginal space, lift and lobby reservation, open space

Mumbai: More than a thousand illegal and dangerous buildings in Ulhasnagar are to get a new lease of life as the state government has decided to regularise them by levying a penalty of ₹2,200 per square metre.

Kalyan, India – February 6, 2019: Aerial view of Ulhasnagar for issue of Illegal construction in Ulhasnagar in kalyan, India, on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 (Photo by Rishikesh Choudhary/HT) (HT PHOTO)

Regularisation refers to the process of certifying building works that have been carried out without Building Regulations approval. The regularisation process enables people to submit a retrospective application relating to previously unauthorised works.

As part of the plan, the government has also decided to give an additional Floor Space Index (FSI) to make the redevelopment of the dilapidated illegal buildings found with various types of violations.

The satellite town of Mumbai currently has 1055 illegal buildings due to various violations by the developers or the tenants.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde announced the government’s nod for the regularisation of the illegal buildings in Ulhasnagar. Most of the buildings and their developers resorted to violations of rules related to FSI, marginal space, lift and lobby reservation, open space.

Several flat owners have not registered their sale deed while the developers of some of the buildings are not traceable. The flat owners in such buildings have very limited documents such as electricity bills and tax receipts to prove their ownership.

The state government has decided to also give additional FSI to the buildings to ensure the feasibility of their redevelopment.

“The decisions have been taken in accordance with the 2006 law enacted for the regularisation of illegal buildings in the city. It has the provision of compounding fees for the violations, including height of building, change of use among others. The formula had technical difficulties and needed to be streamlined. The government has also decided to give an additional FSI of 35 to 65% of permissible FSI. We are also giving the rights of redevelopment to the society in case the developers of the building are not traceable and the building has not been handed over to the society,” said an official from the urban development department.

Most of these buildings are erected on Sanad lands owned by the state government and given on lease for the construction of the housing projects. The state government has already relaxed the norms for cluster redevelopment by allowing the group redevelopment of a plot measuring 4,000 square feet by giving additional FSI.

Kumar Ailani, BJP MLA from Ulhasnagar said that the decision will help the rehabilitation of the old and demolished buildings. “These are the buildings constructed more than three decades ago. Around 30 of them have been demolished leading to the hardships to the tenants in them. This was the long pending demand of the residents in Ulhasnagar,” he said.