CHANDIGARH: Haryana‘s Town and Country Planning Minister J P Dalal on Tuesday announced that the state government has permitted stilt-plus four floor (S+4) constructions in the state. This permission is extended to old colonies with certain conditions. This decision by the government is expected to benefit the general public significantly, he said.
The permission for S+4 constructions will be granted without any conditions for residential plots in colonies/sectors where the layout plan is approved with four dwelling units per plot, said an official statement.
Additionally, in the already licensed Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jan Awas Yojana colonies, where the service plan is approved/revised for four dwelling units per plot, permission for S+4 constructions will also be granted.
Notably, after over a year’s ban, the fresh decision pertaining to stilt-plus-four floors is based on the recommendations of an expert committee. The policy for four-floor plus stilt houses in residential plots was put on hold 16 months ago.
Last year, the government informed the Assembly that permission was given to construct four-storey houses with stilt parking in the sectors of Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP). But some complaints were received following which the government formed a committee to look into the matter.
Dalal said that in colonies and sectors where the layout plan is approved with three dwelling units per plot, S+4 construction will be allowed with certain conditions for residential plots that derive access from a 10 meters or wider road.
In such colonies, if a person wishes to construct S+4, submission of mutual consent agreement with all adjoining plot owner is required excepting those who have already obtained S+4 approval or side setback of 1.8 meters (on all floors) being maintained from adjoining plots.
However, the government has made a provision that if adjoining plot owners do not consent to S+4 construction, they themselves will be ineligible for S+4 construction in the future.
Dalal clarified that if a plot already has permission for three floors and a basement and now S+4 construction is permitted, basement construction and loading on the common wall will not be allowed.
However, in such cases, basement construction and loading on the common wall will be allowed with mutual consent of the neighbouring plot owners.
Furthermore, if the entire row of residential plots is constructed at once for building plan approval and construction, permission for constructing the common wall will be granted. In no case will basement construction be allowed on plots less than 10 meters in width and 250 sqm in area, he said.
He stated that Rs 1178.95 crore has been collected in lieu of S+4 approvals by various agencies, including Rs 689.8 crore by the Town and Country Planning Department.
This amount will be utilized for enhancing the infrastructure in all sectors/colonies, he said.
He stated that the department will establish a portal to address issues related to S+4 matters and to make various information public, including permissions related to S+4 floors from time to time.
He mentioned that to eliminate the practice of covering the stilt area, in the future, when approving building plans or granting occupation certificates, a condition will be imposed that if the stilt area is fully or partially covered, the building plan approval or occupancy certificate will be deemed withdrawn.