Permission for taller buildings may lead to problems on roads

HYDERABAD: Will the latest sops announced by the State government for building owners of plots abutting Banjara Hills Road 1, 2 and 3 and Road No. 36 of Jubilee Hills, who have parted with some land for road widening, turn the traffic flow from worst to impossible?

The latest decision to allow construction of buildings to a height of 30 metres in lieu of the area lost to road widening may see more commercial complexes coming up on these roads and the proportional increase in the density of traffic. The building regulations under GO 86 already permit unlimited FSI, allowing any number of floors and increasing the density on the roads. For instance, in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills, the existing building regulations allowed a height of 15 metres, i.e. stilt plus six floors. Now with the new relaxation given on the widened roads, 12 floors will be allowed.

Parking problems

For instance on Road No. 2 from Punjagutta to Jubilee Hills check post, already shops have come up creating parking problems and choking the road in some stretches. If Road No.1 already has many commercial buildings and many more under final stages of construction, Road Nos. 2 and 3 are relatively better at present. But the scenario will change when more multi-storeyed complexes come up.

Moreover, after widening of Road No. 3, all the commercial establishments are opening directly on to the road with no service road provision.

On such roads, doubling the density is suicidal and in one year, everyone would see the negative impact on the traffic.

“Traffic is going to kill Hyderabad,” says a Planning Department official.

But GHMC officials do not anticipate such a serious scenario. The left side of the Banjara Hills Rd. No.1 from Nagarjuna Circle to Masab Tank already has multi-storeyed structures and some more like GVK Mall are under construction and the new relaxation will mostly apply to buildings on the right side.

The Rd. No.1 is being widened to 100 ft with only four to five properties yet to be acquired. Of 109 properties affected on either side of the road, 50 to 60 properties are on the left side which can exploit the new relaxation to go up to a height of 30 metres.

However, the height of 30 metres will be allowed only when buildings satisfy norms such as plot size of 2,000 sq.m., setback, 44 per cent of total built up area for parking, etc., they say.