A building declared condemned by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, that houses the Socialist Party of India office, in immediate need of restoration. A Telegraph picture

The owners of 30 unsafe buildings in Calcutta have come forward with reconstruction proposals within six weeks of the civic authorities announcing an incentive package for such properties.

“The building department has cleared 21 reconstruction proposals. Nine proposals are being considered,” said mayoral council member (building) Dipankar De.

The buildings to be reconstructed are in Burrabazar, Bagbazar and Sovabazar. They are three to six storeys high.

Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya welcomed the proposals. According to him, the civic building rules and rent control system are the two main factors that discourage owners from reconstructing unsafe buildings. “We decided to relax building rules to encourage the owners of unsafe buildings to take up reconstruction.”

The civic authorities have declared over 2,100 buildings unsafe. Most of them are in Burrabazar, central Calcutta and north Calcutta, and are teeming with tenants.

Reconstruction was not a viable option for the owners, since the tenants have to be accommodated in the new buildings, which would have about 40 per cent less covered area under the current rules.

Municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay announced in the last week of April that the rules would be relaxed for those willing to reconstruct their unsafe buildings and rehabilitate all the tenants.

Under the current building rules, ground coverage up to 40 per cent of the plot area is allowed. The floor-area ratio (FAR) depends on the width of the road.

For example, the owner of an old four-storey house covering 10 cottahs can reconstruct it only over four cottahs. If the building stands on a 30-ft-wide road, the new structure cannot be taller than three storeys.

However, under the incentive scheme, the owner can build over 6.5 cottahs and up to a height 14.5 metres (G+4).

“Besides allowing more ground coverage, we are granting half the total space occupied by tenants as additional FAR over and above the permissible limit under the current building rules,” said director-general (building) Gorachand Mondol.

“We wanted to relax the 14.5-metre vertical cap but could not because of the fire department norms,” added De.

Buildings over 14.5 metres tall are regarded as highrises by the fire department. Such houses must have at least two staircases.