Pressured by builders or for public good? Haryana reversing ban on stilt+4 buildings raises concerns

Haryana govt says move will benefit public, while residents feel it will lead to haphazard development of 4-storey apartments in residential sectors already seeing power & water scarcity.

The residential sectors, particularly in a crowded city like Gurugram, are likely to become more chaotic | Commons

Chandigarh: The Haryana government Tuesday reversed its 2023 ban on stilt plus four (S+4) buildings as the state gears up for the assembly elections later this year.

The back-pedalling has raised concerns about whether the government allowed the S+4 buildings under pressure from the builders’ lobby and how such constructions may lead to overcrowding in sectors and create additional stress on civic resources.

In February 2023, the then chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s government banned the S+4 buildings after a state-wide agitation, spearheaded by former Army chief General V.P. Malik, against “haphazard apartmentalisation”.

General Malik, living in Panchkula since his retirement from the Army, had sent a letter to Khattar against the “large-scale apartmentalisation” in December 2022, and at a meeting of the RWAs in late January, said Khattar did not respond to his letter.

The ban on S+4 buildings followed, and the builders’ lobby has since been demanding its reversal in its bid to raise S+4 buildings on residential plots and sell floor-wise apartments.

Haryana’s Minister of Town & Country Planning and Urban Estates J.P. Dalal said Tuesday that the state government has permitted S+4 constructions throughout the state and that this extends to old colonies with certain conditions.

The move, Dalal added, will likely benefit the public significantly.

He said the permit for S+4 buildings would be unconditionally granted for residential plots in colonies or sectors, whose layout plans approve four dwelling units per plot. In the already licensed Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jan Awas Yojana colonies, if the service plans are revised to approve four units per plot, the permit for S+4 buildings will be granted.

Calling the government move a bid to please builders, Sanjay Lal, a member of the Central Advisory Committee of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) said he fears that residential sectors, particularly in a crowded city like Gurugram, would become more chaotic now.

“This (the reversal of the ban) will lead to haphazard development of four-storey apartments in residential sectors, which are already reeling under power and water scarcity. The already scarce green belts will come under additional pressure due to the increase in the population in each sector,” Lal told ThePrint Wednesday.

“With each building having 8 to 10 cars, parking will become a big issue, leading to quarrels among residents. With each building having lifts, gen-sets will become a must, increasing air pollution,” he added.

He said there will also be no checks on commercial activities or running of paying guests (PGs) in the new S+4 buildings, increasing the burden on public utilities further.

How the controversy started

In 2017, the state government amended the Haryana Building Code to allow owners of plotted houses to build a ground floor plus three floors, with a stilt parking area on the ground floor. The Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) allowed the registration of S+4 floors on their plots in 2018.

Soon, homeowners in Haryana were converting their homes into four-storey apartments and selling each to a different owner. This practice led to congestion on narrow, inner sector roads and increased pressure on parks, water supplies, and sewage lines.

However, the RWAs started raising their voice, especially after a Supreme Court bench in January 2023 barred the practice of turning independent houses into apartments in Chandigarh’s Phase-I, saying it could harm the “lungs” of the city.

General V.P. Malik, who, at the time, led the RWAs’ campaign, asked how authorities could turn a blind eye when Panchkula’s original master plan did not have provisions for multi-storey apartments in the city’s plotted sectors.

The solar panels on his roof, he said, were rendered useless by the construction of a high-rise in his neighbourhood. “I came to Sector 6 of Panchkula from Delhi 19 years ago to lead a quiet life and now, I find the same chaos here too. Not upgrading the infrastructure would permanently destroy the character of the city,” he said.

In February last year, Haryana Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, who represents Panchkula in the state assembly, announced that the government has banned S+4, considering the protests by the RWAs.

On 16 March, 2023, the Haryana government established an expert committee, headed by P. Raghavendra Rao, chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, to examine the issues related to S+4 buildings and recommend a future course of action.

The committee submitted its report in July last year.

The Haryana government’s announcement Tuesday to reverse last year’s ban is on the recommendations of the committee’s report, said a government officer.

However, Yashvir Singh Malik, convener of the Confederation of RWAs of HSVP sectors, alleged that the state government, under pressure from the builders’ lobby, has passed an S+4 policy without any change from what it was before the ban.

“The only difference is that in certain cases the neighbours’ permission would be required. This is likely to compound the problem because this will lead to quarrels between neighbours,” said Malik when contacted by ThePrint Tuesday.

Malik said the policy is discriminatory, too, because it says those on 10-metre roads alone can build S+4 buildings. “In the HSVP sectors in Haryana, those having their houses on narrower roads will now face all the hardships such as lack of sunlight and air because of S+4 houses around them, but they can’t build such houses,” he added.

A meeting of the RWAs will be held at Panchkula on Sunday (7 July) to discuss the issue and plan the confederation’s future course of action.

What the rules say

Dalal said S+4 constructions would be allowed for residential plots that access a road 10 metres or wider.

For such a construction, a person should submit a mutual consent agreement signed by all adjoining plot owners, except those with a prior S+4 permit or whose building has a 1.8-metre side setback on all floors from adjoining plots. The government has stipulated that if adjoining plot owners don’t consent, they will be ineligible for an S+4 permit going ahead.

Dalal also said if a plot already has permission for three floors and a basement, and now S+4 construction is permitted, basement construction and loading on common walls will not be allowed without the mutual consent of the neighbouring plot owners.

But, if the entire row of residential plots is constructed simultaneously, permission for the common walls will be granted. Basement construction, however, will not be allowed on plots less than 10 metres in width and 250 sq m in area.

Dalal further said that future building plan approvals or occupation certificates will include the condition that if the stilt area is fully or partially covered, the documents will be deemed withdrawn. This will likely eliminate the practice of covering the parking.

Additionally, a standard operating procedure has been prepared for all existing S+4 constructions without building plan approval, he said. Individuals could apply to get the construction approved, which will be done in 90 days if neighbouring plot owners had not objected at the time of construction. If they had, individuals would get an opportunity to get their consent, and if that doesn’t happen, the case will be decided by passing a speaking order.

Dalal informed that previously, permission was granted for floor area ratio (FAR) with the construction of 2.5 floors. Subsequently, if the owner wanted to construct the third or fourth floor, they had to pay an additional amount for FAR approval.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)