Patna,(BiharTimes): The Jitan Ram Manjhi cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval to the “Bihar Building Bylaws 2014” to regulate construction of commercial and residential complexes in the state. The new rule would pave the way for clearance of maps of high-rise buildings pending for the past couple of years.

Talking to the media after the cabinet meeting principal secretary of cabinet secretariat department, B Pradhan, said the bylaws would be applicable in all the three urban local bodies: Municipal Corporation, Council and Nagar Panchayat besides metropolitan areas, if notified.

The bylaws had been simplified for getting the maps passed for constructing residential buildings on plots measuring up to 300sqm. Now people having 300sqm of land can start construction for residential purpose and get their maps passed later.

The urban development and housing department had imposed a ban on approval of maps for any multi-storied building over the height of 11m till the proposed Bihar Municipal Building Bylaws came into effect through a notification issued on December 13, 2012.

Now the height of buildings would be measured from plinth. Pradhan said submission of “structural stability certificate” has been made mandatory for getting maps approved for multi-storied buildings of 15m height and above.

No new construction would be permitted up to 200m on the either side of the boundary earmarked by the irrigation department along the Ganga. For other rivers the distance is 100m.

Thus construction of residential buildings up to the height of seven metres along the roads having width of up to 12ft is allowed.

The bylaw has the provision for developing an “integrated township” with a minimum land of five hectares along roads not less than 30m wide.Pradhan said old and new buildings with the height of 16
metres from the level of a road with a width of 16 feet would have a 1.8 floor area ratio.The builder will have to take a structural stability certificate for constructing a building of 15 metres height.

He said all the new buildings would be earthquake resistant.One can construct G+2 (of 10 metre height) on a road more than 12 feet wide, but the floor area ratio (FAR) would not exceed beyond 1.5. Likewise, on a 16ft wide road, G+2 (of 16 metres height) with FAR 1.8 is allowed. On a 20ft wide road, a G+3 building could be constructed with FAR 2 and on 30ft road, it could be G+5 with FAR 2.5.This apart, a G+3 has been allowed on 20ft road while G+5 on 30, 40 and 60ft road would have FAR of 2.5. On an 80ft wide road, the FAR would be 3.0, for 90 and 100 feet it would be 3.5 each. Any new building would have to spare minimum 25 percent and a maximum 35 per cent of the total area for parking. Buildings constructed in groups on a bigger plot would have to spare additional 15 percent land for the movement of ambulance.Rainwater harvesting has been made mandatory for all types of buildings,

According to Pradhan the new bylaws would act as a framework for any development programme in the state.Incidentally, the bylaws have been approved after the state capital virtually turned into a concrete jungle in the last one decade.

The builder-politician-bureaucrat nexus is largely responsible for the mushroom growth of high-rise buildings. The then Commissioner, Patna Municipal Corporation, Senthil Kumar, about five years back gave his nod to hundreds of buildings in one go.

The Patna high court has repeatedly pulled up the PMC and the state government for the construction of big apartments in the lanes and bylanes of the state capital.