At 16, PMC nod to high-rise bldgs hit new peak last year

Pune: High-rise building approvals in PMC limits reached a new high in 2024, with 16 proposals cleared — the highest annual tally since 2016 when the civic body started clearing such proposals. The number marked a 78% increase from the nine approvals in the previous year, indicating rising demand for vertical development.According to the Unified Development Control and Promotion Rules (UDCPR), a high-rise building is defined as a construction with a height of 24 metres or move above the average surrounding ground level. The majority of the buildings approved by PMC's high-rise committee are taller than 100 metres, with the tallest being 160.45 metres in height. The projects were coming up in Somwar Peth, Balewadi, Baner, Mundhwa, Kharadi and Bopodi areas.PMC officials said the civic authorities granted permissions for high-rises after strict scrutiny of the project sites and the availability of basic infrastructure like roads of 24 metres or above in width. "The meetings of the high-rise committees are held regularly. It helps in the better assessment of the proposals. The ground-level assessment is done before approving the proposals," Amol Bahadkar, a senior official from the PMC's building permissions department and a member of PMC's high-rise committee, said.The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) approved 41 high-rise building proposals between 2016 and 2023. "The twin pipeline system is mandatory for such projects. One of the pipelines must be dedicated to treated water and its supply. The absence of facilities and proper infrastructure was a huge obstacle in clearing such projects earlier. However, after road widening and augmentation of infrastructure, the approval process gathered pace in the last couple of years," a senior PMC official said.Shailesh Dandane of the Indian Institute of Architects, Pune Centre, said the high-rises were good for growing cities like Pune, but they should be planned properly. "The densification can be done properly if high-rises are promoted. The basic civic facilities can be made available to the larger section of people in a smaller space in vertical growth, but it should be backed by proper infrastructure development," he said.Senior urban planner Ramchandra Gohad said if high-rises were allowed without proper scrutiny, they could put unnecessary burden on traffic, sewage and water supply. "The development of supportive infrastructure is a must either before the project approval or during the construction process. The infrastructure should never be an afterthought as it can send urban planning haywire. The management of municipal services will not be possible if high-rises are cleared without proper study of the ground reality," he said.A section of citizens said the surge in high-rise buildings whiffed of PMC's ‘greed' by making money through approvals. "The Nagar Road areas are already suffering from problems like traffic and water woes, with the societies relying heavily on tankers. If the big towers are built in such a scenario, the residents will face a major challenge in the future," Sanjeevkumar Patil, a resident of the Nagar Road area, said.(With inputs from Salonee Mistry)