THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government is planning to review the Kerala Municipal Building Rules, 1999, to curb unrestricted construction and establish a regime of scientific land-use across the State.

Official sources told The Hindu that the Government was contemplating the review in the wake of a spurt in construction activity in total disregard for available infrastructure capabilities in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode Corporation limits.

Floor-area ratio (FAR) norms were ignored and residential and commercial complexes built without considering availability of drinking water, drainage, road or parking space.

Development pattern

The developmental pattern in these cities and their suburbs seemed to have gone haywire, with hardly any bearing on the resources available. Such unrestricted growth was feared to lead to an acute drinking water crisis and collapse of the drainage system soon, sources said.

As a preliminary step to the review, the Local Administration Department cancelled an order issued by the Government on December 31, 2004.

The order was issued in pursuance of a meeting of builders and officials at the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's chamber on December 7, 2004.

The order said that considering ambiguities in the Cochin Structure Plan, applicable to Kochi Corporation limits, the FAR norms in the building rules in force in other Corporation and municipal limits were made applicable to that city too.

The structure plan was prepared in view of the regional characteristics of the city. On detecting the problems thrown up by shelving the plan, the Government cancelled the order and initiated preliminary steps to review the building rules, sources said.

New rules

The new rules would consider the regional characteristics and problems in increasing FAR beyond permissible limits. With the pressure on land increasing, the Government might follow the national pattern and make the FAR norms on a par with those prevailing in other States.

The building rules framed in 1984 had fixed FAR at 1.5, but it had gone up to 4 when the rules were revised in 1999.

While FAR in Delhi was 1.33, it ranged between 1.55 and 2 in other States.

The new building rules might follow the national pattern and bring it down. The revision process was expected to begin soon, sources said.

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