150 highrises come up in 8 years in Pune
Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) serves 518 sq km area, which indicates its horizontal growth. Urbanisation is also taking place at a fast pace outside the limits of the civic body.
Following the implementation of Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations (UDCPR), the city has started growing vertically. It seems Pune will soon be a city of skyscrapers like Mumbai.
Historic Pune developed as an industrial, IT, educational and cultural hub. Its population has reached up to 72 lakhs due to job and education opportunities. When the villages on Pune’s outskirts also started growing, many of them were merged with the PMC in a phased manner. This increased the jurisdiction of the civic body up to 518 sq km.
Development control rules were changed to suit construction of new houses. Restrictions on the height of buildings were gradually relaxed. This not only encouraged new building plans in the new limits but redevelopment in the old city areas.
The PMC permitted 100-m tall buildings along 24-m road. While approving building permissions, the committee headed by the District Collector would first ensure connectivity by road, parking, drainage and water supply systems, security and impact on the environment.
In 2017, the government started making UDCPR for all cities. Thus, in 2020, the UDCPR was approved and 100-m and above towers started getting built. The Highrise Committee headed by the Municipal Commissioner started issuing permissions to tall buildings, changing the skyline of the city.
Buildings above 100 m i.e. 30-33 storeys started coming up in Baner, Pashan, Balewadi, Sangamwadi, Vadgaon Sheri, Kharadi, Mundhwa, Bibwewadi, Kondhwa, Gultekdi and Erandavane.
Highrises can also be seen in old peth areas such as Shukrawar Peth, Mangaldas Road, Shivajingar (Bhamburda), and Somwar Peth. They include redevelopment projects too. The PMC has issued permission to build 150 buildings ranging from 70 m to 130 m high.
Most of such buildings have parking facilities on first three floors and include residential and commercial buildings. Some of these skyscrapers are ready and being used too. It has been made mandatory to install ultra-modern firefighting systems, recycling of sewage water in these highrises. The side margins of such buildings must be 12 m. Redevelopment got a big boost after the UDCPR and FSI of 4 along the Metro railway routes were approved. After relaxation in TDR use rules, three-four storey buildings are getting replaced with highrises, said civic officials.
