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Tall change: A minimum plot size may be prescribed for high-rise buildings.

The incident in which two nuns were killed by bricks falling from a high-rise building under construction at Nagampadam in Kottayam raised a controversy over the implementation of building rules and triggered a re-examination of the rules on the part of the Town Planning Department which wanted the spirit of the rules of to be strictly adhered to.

In the wake of the Kottayam incident, there was a Ministrylevel thinking to bring about important changes to restrict building practices such as the ones that caused the death of the two nuns. It was as a result of this thinking that the town planners in Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram were entrusted with the task of taking a second look at the Kerala Municipal Building Rules (KMBR) 1999 and to suggest changes that would help create a better environment and stricter adherence to the rules.

One of the suggestions that was put up for approval was that the minimum size of a plot should be 50 cents for a high-rise building to come up on it.

This is the first time that a suggestion has been put up prescribing the minimum size of a plot for a high-rise building. A high-rise building has been defined as those that are above 15 metres or five storeys.

An official who was involved in the process of examining the KMBR recently said that Kerala was one of the States in the country where there was an acute shortage of land. And what was available being very costly.

The situation prompted builders to expand vertically. Looking around Kochi, recently, the offi- cial found that there were a large number of high-rise buildings coming up in and around the city. Local Self-Government. These suggestions were now being considered by the Law Department. Kerala Builders' Forum (KBF) Chairman George E. George said that low land availability in Kerala was an important factor that has to be considered when building rules are applied. K.A. MARTIN, Kochi Most of these buildings had 18 to 22 storeys. The building rules and practices that were being followed in major urban centres such as Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai were closely examined when revisions were suggested, said the official.

The suggestions for revision were forwarded to the Ministry of Local Self-Government. These suggestions were now being considered by the Law Department. Kerala Builders' Forum (KBF) Chairman George E. George said that low land availability in Kerala was an important factor that has to be considered when building rules are applied.

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