‘Will not bend rules for redeveloped buildings’

Municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar on Saturday turned down a demand by city legislators that the mandatory rule to keep sufficient space between two buildings be waived for redevelopment of old buildings.

Municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar on Saturday turned down a demand by city legislators that the mandatory rule to keep sufficient space between two buildings be waived for redevelopment of old buildings.

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Legislators from the island city made this demand during a meeting called by Kumar.

Congress MLA Amin Patel said the many redevelopment proposals were pending because it was not possible to leave the mandatory space due to congested areas in south Mumbai.

But Kumar said that he would stick to the development control rules that there should be a minimum distance of six-meter distance between compound wall and the constructed area for security reasons.

"When an old building is redeveloped, the developer should keep at least 6-meter space between the compound wall and the building at one side so that in case of a fire, the fire brigade vehicles and personnel can reach the building to rescue people and control the blaze," Kumar said at the meeting held in civic headquarters.

Shiv Sena MP Manohar Joshi, Congress MLA Annie Shekhar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLAs Bala Nangaonkar and Nitin Sardesai and Mangalprabhat Lodha from BJP attended the meeting.

Kumar also clarified that the meeting with all the legislators was pre-planned and not called after the latter complained to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan last week that he was not meeting them. “The meeting was fixed 15 days ago and the MLAs were intimated about it. So, it is not true that meeting was called after they complained to the CM," Kumar said.