In a bid to end horizontal development of the city, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has decided to increase the floor space index (FSI) of buildings along major roads.
With this, the present eight-storey Spencer Plaza mall with an approximate built up area of 10 lakh sq feet will become a 16-storey structure with 30 lakh sq feet floor space area.
As of now, the maximum FSI for a high rise building in the city is 3.25. This is expected to go up to 4.875 using premium FSI of 50% that will cost builders more. The CMDA amendment will allow a free FSI increase between 6 and 8.
The proposed higher FSI will be implemented on Anna Salai, EVR Periyar Salai, Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Outer Ring Road, Chennai-Kolkata highway, Chennai-Tiruvallur highway and other major roads, and will extend upto 500m from the road. This will pave the way for vertical development and redevelopment of older plots and buildings in the city, resulting in more space for people, builders said while welcoming the move.
Ajith Chordia of CREDAI Chennai said, while the proposed idea along major arterial roads and Metrorail corridor is a good one, there should be capacity augmentation of civic infrastructure.
There are concerns higher FSI will increase the burden on existing utility infrastructure. Anshul Mishra, member secretary of CMDA, said that apprehensions about the existing infrastructure not being able to cater to a high rise building is misplaced. “The infrastructure can always be upgraded to cater to increased densification and this has been followed by many cities. The public utility infra will follow…”
Several restrictive policies such as higher setback area with higher FSI and higher number of floors will also have to be changed, industry experts stated. Right now, for a 30m high building, seven metre setback area is mandated. This will be increased by 1m for every 6m more.
“This will be relaxed as the area is used only for movement of fi re vehicles and other rescue vehicles. However, adequate parking will be ensured in the basements,” stated Anshul Mishra.
S Kanagasundaram, a licensed surveyor, stated that CMDA should consider various parameters devised by National Building Code, before changing FSI. “They should fi rst decide availability of basic amenities to ensure hasslefree living for people. In the developed and foreign countries, they have FSI of over 10 and 20, but the plots there are bigger.
In Chennai, such large properties are very few. Instead of increasing FSI for all buildings along main roads, it should be granted based on the extent of land. Secondly, this would a gain paveway for higher land price,” he said.