News Detail

• The new Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) guidelines may prove to be a dampener for Kerala's construction industry. As per these guidelines, buildings that are more than five storeys or 15-metre high should have wide roads around them.These guidelines are applicable to Kerala, Maharashtra and Haryana. These three states had approached the ministry for approval to increase the height limit for buildings.As per the guidelines, a 5-storey or 15-metre high residential or industrial building should have a 15-metre wide road surrounding it. Higher the building, wider the roads! For instance, a 15-storey building should ideally have a 24-metre road around it.

• "Considering Kerala's exploding population, if construction and road widening are carried out as per these guidelines, the price of land will shoot up to astronomical levels. Then hypothetically, open spaces and paddy fields will be eaten up by construction works.As far as Kerala's infrastructural development is concerned, only vertical growth is possible," said Antony Kunnel, president, CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India) Kerala.The draft also proposes carrying out mock fire drills on an annual basis on all high-rise buildings in the state. "This is a welcome decision, and it should be followed. It will definitely reduce casualties due to fire accidents," said Kunnel.

• The draft suggestion to have a fire station within 10km radius of buildings with more than 10-storeys has also been received well.On March 28, chief minister Oommen Chandy will take up the issue with the concerned representatives. "We will look into it after an official meeting with builders and concerned stake holders in the coming weeks. These are only guidelines and can most definitely be worked on in order to arrive at a consensus," Oommen Chandy's office told TOI.

• New guidelines floated by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) can prove to be a spanner in the works for Kerala's construction industry. The latest guidelines drafted by MoEF entails that future construction projects should include wider roads around buildings which have more than 5 storeys or 15 metres high.The guideline is applicable for Kerala, Maharashtra and Haryana. The three states had approached the ministry for approval to increase the height limit for buildings.As per the guidelines, a 5 storey or 15 metres high building, either residential or industrial should have a 15 meters wide road surrounding it. Higher buildings should have wider roads. For instance, a building more than 15 storey high should ideally have a 24 metre road around it.

• Antony Kunnel, President, CREDAI (The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India) Kerala, wonders if the state has that much of free land to accommodate these guidelines."Considering the exploding population in Kerala, if constructions and road widening are carried out as per this draft, the land pricing will shoot up to astronomical levels. Hypothetically then open spaces and paddy fields will be eaten up by construction works. As far as Kerala's infrastructural development is concerned, the only growth is vertical," observed Kunnel.

• Mock fire drills are proposed to be carried out on an annual basis on all high-rises in the state. "This is a welcome decision in the draft and it should be followed. It would definitely reduce casualties due to fire accidents," noted Kunnel. The MoEF guideline to have a fire station at proximity (10km radius) to buildings more than 10-storeys has also been received well.March 28 will be the deciding day for the builders and the ministry, as the chief minister Oommen Chandy will take up the issue with the concerned representatives."We will look into all these matter after an official meeting with the builders and concerned stake holders in the coming weeks. These are only guidelines and can most definitely be worked upon so as to arrive on a consensus," told Oommen Chandy's office to TOI.

Source