Bhubaneswar, May 2: Building regulations across the state are set for change with the Naveen Patnaik government's urban and planning department moving towards a green regime.
The proposed model building regulation intends to make green initiatives such as rainwater harvesting and solar rooftops mandatory for all housing projects. Once the new regulations come into force, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) will implement it here.
The proposed regulations also seek to usher in a few other changes in how housing projects are built in the state.
To put project clearances on the fast-track, the new regulations intends to give building plan approvals within 30 days instead of the present practice of two to three years.
The builders will also be able to go ahead with the project without any environmental clearance, as the proposed regulations state that local bodies have to address the environmental concern of a city.
The regulations also proposes three categories for buildings - 5,000 to 20,000 square meters, 20,000 to 50,000 square meters and 50,000 to 1,50,000 square meters. The environment conditions for each building will be unique. Mandatory provisions for green norms such as rainwater harvesting and solar power generation system will depend on the built-up area of each project.
"A risk-based matrix for different types of buildings will be introduced so that small buildings with low-risk criteria will get faster approvals compared to the high-risk buildings such as malls and big complexes. They will be examined in detail for clearance," said a BDA official.
"We will also bring in provisions for fire safety, structural safety, earthquake and natural disaster on high priority in these buildings. Another important clause that will be incorporated in the new regulations will be infrastructure that will be friendly to senior citizens, physically challenged and children," the official said.
Director town planning S. Mishra told The Telegraph that state government officials were preparing the model building regulations.
"The model building regulations will be in line with the Model Building Bye Laws of 2016 of the government of India (see chart). The regulations will be implemented in all the urban areas of the state, including Bhubaneswar," said Mishra.
City-based real-estate developers have welcomed the decision to introduce the model building regulation.
"The model building bye laws prepared by the central government aimed to promote ease of doing business and the clauses under this are very flexible," said president Association for Odisha Real-estate Developer (Aford) Umesh Patnaik.
He said that the most important clause in the new regulation that would prove to be a boon for real-estate developers here would be the single window clearance service.
This will help developers get building approval and environment clearance within a 30 days instead of the two years, he said.
Environmentalist Sailabala Padhi said to keep pace with the current trend of urbanisation, green norms such as solar rooftops and rainwater harvesting should come into effect immediately.
He said that the administration should be strict in implementing the green norms where and when it came into force.
"Temperature is rising with each passing days. This is the result of rapid urbanisation and in a city like Bhubaneswar, green norms for the buildings should be made mandatory. This move will not only help maintain natural balance, but also prove to be economically beneficial for residents," Padhi said.
Without waiting for the regulations to be endorsed, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is telling people about the need to harvest rainwater to recharge groundwater. The civic body is also trying to transform Bhubaneswar into a solar powered city.
A senior civic body official said that because of lack of awareness, the municipal corporation had a tough time implementing the ambitious projects of model solar city and rainwater harvesting here. However, the proposed regulations might ease the job, he added.
