In a relief to residents of the Capital, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) may allow multi-storey residential structures to be constructed without stilt parking on a piece of land measuring 300 sq. metre and above up to 1,000 sq. metre. The court is likely to hear the matter on Wednesday.
At present, it is mandatory to have adequate space for car parking in the form of stilt parking for plots between 100 sq. metre and 1,000 sq. metre. The Corporation wants to grant exemption to those who intend to construct houses on plots of over 300 sq. metre. Before any order or circular is issued, the SDMC has sought clearance from Delhi High Court to avoid future conflict.
For the purpose, the SDMC has moved an application seeking modification of a previous circular of 2011 that made stilt parking mandatory before court. In the application, the civic body has justified its move saying, “The proposed modification in the circular will be more beneficial for a particular category of plot owners (300 sq. m to 1,000 sq. m).” The application further said “the relief would be granted if adequate space is provided by the owner within his plot at surface or basement according to floor area ratio (FAR) being availed by him.”
Sources in the Corporation said the decision has been taken by the agency after considering various representations received by individuals and Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), which have been demanding exemption for quite some time. It was also stated that they were seeking relief because the provision for a mandatory nine feet high stilt parking has caused a spurt in the overall cost of construction of a structure by almost 20 per cent.
While proposing that stilt parking be made optional for owners of plots above 300 sq. metre, the Corporation has said that stilt parking made on larger plots wasted space which could otherwise be utilised, if parking was made optional.
“In larger size plots, the owners usually did not exhaust their entire FAR thereby leaving a substantial portion of their plots vacant. The space could be utilised for parking without putting occupants through the rigors of mandatory stilt requirements,” observed the application filed by the SDMC.
“Because owners of large plots of size 300 sq. metre to 1,000 sq. metre have enough space to park vehicles within their boundary and while doing any new construction they do not opt for stilt parking for the sake of aesthetics and architectural requirements. So they can be provided the option of stilt parking if they do not meet the required Equivalent Car Space (ECS) as per master plan,” cited the Corporation.
The Corporation has also submitted in the application that the proposed modification has received the nod of Delhi’s lieutenant Governor. “Since the object and the purpose of bringing the said circular was to ensure that increasing number of vehicles do not hamper the smooth functioning of the city and since the said purpose would neither be hampered nor would any of the provisions of the MPD 2021 would be violated, it would be in the larger interest of society if the proposed modification, as approved by the l-G, is allowed to be implemented in respect of the Residential Plotted Development,” it said.
“In case, in future, owners decide to achieve complete FAR, he would have to provide for additional ECS as per parking norms in MPD 2021. However, for plots from 100 sq. metre and up to 300 sq. metre, provisions of stilt would continue to remain mandatory,” the application further added.
