No Special Treatment To Ghaziabad As UP Strikes Down 2014 Building Bye-Laws

In 2014, exclusive building bye-laws were notified for Ghaziabad, putting it in a different league when compared to other cities in the state. Under the byelaws, developers could build a structure of four floors with stilt parking on plots measuring between 112 square metre (sqm) and 2,000 sqm. Between 2014 and 2015, the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) conducted a survey and identified 13 localities in the city where it planned to implement the new rules. After that, it was decided that the new bye-laws could be made applicable in areas such as Rajendra Nagar, Indraprastha Scheme, Govindpuram, Swarn Jayanti Puram, Shalimar Garden and Indirapuram. This move would have benefitted developers who have been building residential projects in these specific localities---they could have built more units on smaller plot sizes.

Now, that plan may see a change as the state housing department has amended the 2014 rules. With this move, the special treatment Ghaziabad real estate received through 2014 would cease to exist. In 2016, the state notified building byelaws for the entire Uttar Pradesh.

What changes now?

According to an order passed by the Uttar Pradesh Housing Board on April 24 that overrides the2014 rules with immediate effect, builders will be allowed to construct three-storey structures with stilt parking on plots measuring between 150 and 300 sqm. The measurement of the plot should be over 300 sqm for the developer to be able to construct four-storey structures with stilt parking.

The step is taken in light of the fact that many localities in Ghaziabad might not be able to handle the population in case developers are allowed to build more units on smaller plots in the absence of proper infrastructure.