The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) wants to increase the number of commercial zones and many residential neighbourhoods that have witnessed a mushrooming of shops and restaurants over the years but continue to be tagged as “residential” are on the proposed list.
The change has to be made in the land use and development control plan (LUDCP) of Kolkata, officials said.
The plan broadly determines which parts of the city will be primarily residential, which parts will be primarily commercial and which parts can be both.
The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) prepared the land use plan and published it in May 1996.
The proposal — to include 690 more roads on the list of commercial zones — was passed in the KMC’s monthly meeting of councillors last week. It will now be sent to the KMDA, which may accept or reject the proposal, or make modifications and accept partially, said a KMC official. This will then need the state government’s nod.
If a place is officially categorised as commercial, more constructed space will be allowed on a plot of land than what is allowed on a plot of similar size in a residential area. This is done to promote business, said a senior official.
The property tax of residential buildings in a commercial area is not going to increase, more than one official said. However, a commercial building, whether in a residential or a commercial area, invites more property tax than a residential building.
In terms of civic services, there is hardly any difference between the two, though the KMC is supposed to clean streets more frequently in commercial zones because of the volume of waste generated in those places.
The noise limit allowed in a commercial zone is 10 decibel more than what is allowed in a residential zone. The limit in a residential zone is 55 decibel between 6am and 10pm and 45 decibel from 10pm to 6am.
Civic officials said they often receive applications from house owners who want to convert a residential building into a commercial one. If the road on which the house stands is categorised as residential, the KMC is not able to allow the conversion.
In many cases, this does not stop the owner from giving a portion of the house on rent to one or more commercial establishments. It is only the civic body that loses the conversion fee.
“The owner of the shop or restaurant applies for a trade licence and gets one. They go on paying the trade licence fee but the house may still be paying property tax at the rate of a residential property,” said a KMC official. “If the LUDCP shows the road as a commercial zone, the conversion can be allowed,” the official said.
Kolkata’s land use and development control plan has not been updated in many years but the character of many neighbourhoods has changed in this time.
Stores, shops, cafes and restaurants have sprung up in places like Hindusthan Park, the Rashbehari-Ruby connector and Patuli, among other places.
A KMC official said the perennially busy Surya Sen Street, in central Kolkata, does not fall in the category of commercial zones. It is on the KMC’s proposed list of commercial zones.
The road connecting Raja SC Mullick Road and EM Bypass in Patuli and the Rashbehari-Ruby connector are not on the proposed list, but are likely to be added later, said the official. Purna Das Road will be added to the proposed list.
“If the KMDA agrees to our proposal in full or part, it will have to make public the list of roads likely to be categorised as commercial zones. Common people will get time to give their suggestions or raise objections,” said the official.
A section of KMC officials and architects advised caution in adding more roads in the commercial category. They said residents of the area may object to the move on the ground that the tranquillity of the place will be further disturbed if commercial buildings are allowed indiscriminately.
Partha Ranjan Das, an architect, said the authorities must prepare a more detailed LUDCP. “The plan should also include if there is a need to increase road space, green space and parking facilities in the zone. Merely declaring a road as a commercial
area would not be of much help other than raising revenue for the government,” he said.
“It should also spell out whether two large shopping malls can be allowed within
a short distance on a road. This will have consequences on traffic management,” he said.
