Urban development drafts new policy, seeks BMC approval

After the state government scraped the controversial parking FSI scheme and stayed the construction of over 23 public parking towers earlier sanctioned by the urban development (UD) department, the latter has now framed a new policy to sanction the same.

The state government had sanctioned 28 multi-storey parking towers by offering up to 50% extra FSI as an incentive to developers. Now the government is all set to implement a new policy in its place.

According to a senior civic official, the UD department has sent a new draft of the policy to the BMC for suggestions and objections.

The municipal commissioner is the head of the committee to sanction the parking lots. The same committee will resend it to the government for final sanction.

The new policy mentions a restriction on the number of floors and also limits their construction in the central business district where there is a dire need for parking spaces. However, the decision regarding the need for these public parking towers will lie with the civic body.

The Development Control Rule 33 (24) for incentive parking FSI will be amended with these new provisions.