DP, Builders & the City!

A true test of civilization is, not the census nor the size of the city, but the kind of the man the city turns out... Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Well well we in Pune may be calling us proudly civilized or cultural capitol of the State; but when it comes to analyze a problem & reach to the solution we surely don’t deserve the honor which think is ours! Sometimes going through the statements or quotes of the personalities in the city I wonder is being a builder crime here? I build homes for the people in this city which are or going to be part of civilization of the very society, is it a offense? It seems so for many or else the current affair i.e. DP i.e. Development Plan of the old city would not have been tagged as hijacked by builders & things like that! After a long wait finally the DP has seen the day light & along journey is ahead; it’s just presented after clearance from City Improvement Committee of PMC. Whatever administration has taken efforts are all in vain as the suggestions are being said to be only in favor of the builders. A reader who is not knowing the back ground of the city development in past will think the DP of this city is being made by the Builders only! Such are the news headlines& quotation from NGO's or celebrities of the city. I am never against NGO's they are essential part of the society & have worked with many by myself. Yet the balance has to be there when the subject is as important as DP of cit; because in a way its future of our city we are talking about & not some individual entity!

To start with the criticism which is in general about the whole DP is it revolves around FSI is floor space index which is deciding factor of how much construction area can be build on a particular plot. And it’s being blamed as the FSI has been increased liberally which will imbalance the city civic infrastructure such as drainage, water supply & traffic. Well last so many years the city is growing & on one side we are continuously criticizing about the scarcity of homes affordable to all classes. The prices of the homes are sky rocketing & main reason of that is non availability of land. We can’t create land is a fact all we can do is increase the potential of the land to create maximum home out of the same. I don’t say to increase the FSI is the only way but other is expanding the city limits & we all are witnessing the fiasco on that front. We haven’t been able to freeze the DP of the existing extended boundaries yet & provide them all the infrastructural facilities & we are in process of expanding further more! Isn’t it will be wise instead focus on what is in hand?

And for that let’s understand the process of DP making. The city administration involving engineers & planners under the head of City Engineer studies the earlier DP & its implementation during its life span which is more than 20 years in our case. Then they go through the lacuna's in the same & reasons. All the policies which has been there till today are analyzed & discussed over. Then only the new policies are decided about making residential areas as well FSI. And then the infrastructure required for this additional population is worked out & provisions are made to accommodate the same. This DP is made considering 20 years time span of future now let’s remember whatever FSI has been decided its keeping in mind the need of homes this city will have in coming 20 years & if not now when we will be making the needful policies? The logic isn’t restricted to just residential units but the city needs hotel accommodation, school premise, hospitals & many such buildings which are indirectly part of infrastructure serving the citizen of this very city only. And once agreed we can’t create the land from where we will be providing these services to the citizens?

Now after the administration is through with the DP it’s tabled in front of city improvement committee which is having elected members on the same. There also the members questions administration over each & every aspect of the DP & suggests their opinions about the same. After incorporating their suggestions whatever possible the DP goes to General Body i.e. main House of the PMC where it’s open to discussion for all elected members of the PMC. That’s the stage right now our DP is in. Here after clearing from GB suggestion objection from the people also are invited & hearings conducted on the same. Then only the DP goes to Urban Development Dept of State Govt for State Govt's clearance where Town planning Dept studies the DP & gives their suggestions objections & after going through all this process the Sate Govt clears the DP which is then published officially & comes in ruling for implementation & plans are sanctioned accordingly.

Had the builders been allowed to play any major role then the FSI would have been increased long back but unfortunately we think FSI is the only dimension of the DP where as in actual that is just one of the many dimensions of the DP! I am not writing this to project good image of the builders. There may be lacuna's in the DP but do remember that out of 145 elected members of PMC most are some way or other related to real estate industry & that’s no fault of a common builder! By any way if somebody is trying to compromise the essential reservations for increasing residential area that is wrong & can’t be justified but lets analyze the DP with open eyes. The city has seen tremendous growth in the tenure of past DP & defeating the very purpose of the same is a bitter truth. Here I will like to draw attention to planning attitude of VT i.e. Victoria Terminal which is now CST is Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal in Mumbai. It’s been planned & built nearly 100 years back when population of Mumbai was hardly touching 10 odd lacs yet its planned in such a way that it is serving even toady's population of Mumbai which is above 1 crore! Had the engineers & planners have been blamed at that time saying it’s just feel the pockets of the contractors for spending so much unnecessarily then today’s CST wouldn’t have been in existence & we can imagine the havoc Mumbai would have been having due to less space for CST!

Let’s understand FSI is just part of infrastructure & give that much importance only to this aspect of the DP. Right now all the hohalllah is being made in such a way that common man will think DP means FSI! Agreed there are many important issues which need to be looked in with liberal FSI policy such as capacity of today’s physical as well social infrastructure & how it has been tackled in the DP. Whether there is enough provision made to accommodate this burden & if yes how it will be implemented. Why it’s not being done in past is the question which will be raised by many, mostly NGO's & I won’t say they are wrong here. We have seen serious flaws in infrastructure planning & execution & we have suffered, are suffering for the same. The recent water cuts are the tip of iceberg as we have failed to understand the exact need of basic thing like water & unable to make provision for the same. Same is true for public transport & result is roads are flooded with private vehicles. Even the schools are not having adequate class rooms or infrastructure to serve more number of students & medical services scene is worst! We need more hospitals which will provide good service at affordable costs & for that they will need space available at affordable rate or else the overheads won’t allow them to provide such service.

Another major aspect is income of the city i.e. from where we are going to get the money which will fund all these infrastructural activities? It’s  going to be a major concern, especially now, when the Octroy which is the major source of income till today won’t be there. The money can be generated from development charges as well premiums & property taxes of these new coming buildings which will be more with the added FSI, is one of logic.

Here many will say what guaranty the civic administration gives that all this dream will come true with such provisions about FSI liberalization & at what cost is yes? A very valid question; here is where the policy is important & not just FSI ratio. There has to be conditions & a system which will govern this whole process till end means controlling the outcome for which the policy has been made. Here is where the role of Media , NGO's & every Common Man in the city comes in picture. Why we have to shout & get awake only at the time of making DP? What we have been doing when the past DP was there getting failed repeatedly for all these years? These are the questions I will like to ask instead just criticizing the DP as builders DP! And lastly it’s high time to decide what we want for the citizen of this city & how we are going achieve what we want? A common man wants very small & basic things for his living & they are a home of his own which he can afford & a peaceful living for his family. And it’s this common man who should be focus of the entire DP & that’s duty of each of us to ascertain the same! Then only I will say the DP has been at mark may it’s be a Builder’s DP or anybodies!





--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

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Our Heritage, Our Culture?

We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation a prosperous and safe India, resulting out of economic prosperity coupled with civilizational heritage...Abdul Kalam

Our ex President is a great wise man too & see the way he has put forward the importance of heritage of our country. The recent news about starting a heritage walk in Pune by PMC might have gone unnoticed by many as many will say what’s there to see? few old palpitated structures which we call Wada's, some narrow crowded streets & Shaniwar Wada which has nothing to see inside except the front facade! Unfortunately then we haven't understood the meaning of the term Heritage the way Dr Kalam has. We are fortunate enough to have age old history & culture in this city. Rather the city is witness to many of the famous dynasty from Shivaji to Peshvas & undoubtedly Cultural Capitol of the State. Heritage isn’t restricted to some old structures & roads but it’s the entire culture of that era which we have to preserve. And preservation isn’t keeping some Wadas as it is but to maintain them in the form they were  i.e. in their full glory. At the same time let people of today’s genre know what is the culture they are inheriting.

Even in countries like USA who has hardly any history has preserved their heritage in great way in form of museums & libraries. Europe is most famous for conserving heritage as each country displays story of different culture & civilization & they have maintained it as it is at many places. In recent times China, Singapore has taken lead in preserving heritage & make it tourist attraction, earning huge revenue out of it. In Singapore Heritage walks have been designed with display boards all along the walk telling history of every Square on the street as well important buildings along. Even a new comer in the city can take this walk without any need of guide. And the way they have maintained the entire these routes is itself worth watching. These kind of things create a sense of belonging amongst the residents of the city, making them aware that they are part of a such a heritage as well makes the visitor know the city & its culture from a different perspective.

After all a city can’t be measured just from the jobs or entertainment places it has. A city is known by the people it has inherited & culture it carries. All around the world the city's which have preserved their heritage are considered best for the residence as its the culture which makes your life at peace & feels it with joy & that is what a man needs from the place where he lives. On this back ground what we see around in our beloved city or any such city in our country. With a few exception like Ahmadabad where rulers have taken in depth efforts to conserve the city heritage rest all its total mess & ignorance on this front. Even in Pune though now the local body has started a heritage walk with assistance of an NGO but yet the full fledged effort has yet to be seen. It’s not just showing people around but the condition of what we are showing is also important. Small things like clean Public Toilets along this path have to be taken in account which are missing at our end. We have Shaniwar Wada as iconic structure representing city's image  but if you visit it hardly anything is to se inside is a fact. Similarly the city was  Capitol of Maratha as well Peshwas & so has had many structures which were occupied by their officers i.e. Knights & Nobles but in the process of urbanization we have lost many of them. Even the planning of city in itself is a thing to preserve with arrangement of Peths (cluster of residences of different classes of the societies). For e.g. Tambat Aali means residence as well work places of Copper Smiths & so is Lohar Aali meant for black smiths & then there is Kumbhar Wada meant to be clay pot making workers as the major occupants. Then there are Peths all around Shaniwar Wada making residences of different officers as per their closeness to the Royal Family.

Have a walk through all these areas & you will know what we have lost in the process of urbanization. The term heritage is just for name sake, we neither have been able to preserve the structures nor its surrounding, leave apart the culture it was carrying. Then there are many buildings which were residences of prominent personalities & witness of many historical as well social moments. There was a system of PMC fixing a blue board on such buildings mentioning who was staying there but it’s a joke. As our responsibility towards such structures don’t end by just fixing a board saying the name of personality, if at all we can’t maintain the structure at least we can display the history happened there in written form by which the people visiting such places can know about the same  as well the work of that personality. Unfortunate is at many places even these boards are not maintained as the local body forgets about them once fixed making a mockery of the cause they have been put.

Also there has to be a plan to preserve these structures as many of their present occupants are not in position to maintain the same & as most of the structures in Pune are of clay & wood due to weathering action they have got damaged over the time & needs urgent maintenance. Similarly the streets & localities which need to preserved as heritage, there also norm of redevelopment has to be strictly worked out to maintain the charm it carried over the years.

Then we have Forts like Sinhagad & Purandar around the city along with structures like Mastani Mahal of which ruins are only left. Pune's heritage should not be restricted to these Peths & Wadas but we need to identify the structures in & around the city & need to make them know to common man. Here is what we can think of about the Heritage front...

Operation ‘Heritage Pune’ Agenda

1.    Identify all heritage structures and categorize them systematically

2.   Form a ‘Heritage Cell’ with prominent citizens, scholars, politicians and industrialists. Provide this cell adequate infrastructure, staff and budget through the public body. Identify important structures that have top priority and then work out the best strategy to preserve each one. There are structures, which are in possession of PMC, and structures which are under the possession of Property owners and sometimes their tenants’ .The priority must be given to acquire these structures so that we can preserve them in the best possible manner.

3.   Whenever the property is in possession of the tenants, offer them alternate accommodation through places available under EWS projects or by High Density reservations. We need to have such accommodations available with us on all fringes of the city so as to facilitate the shifting of tenants. When the structure is with owners we can think of giving them rebate in property tax so that they can maintain these structures. We can also recommend a separate fund in which even PMC can contribute. We may have some cess ( tax) on the buildings in Gaothan area for generating this fund. We can also think of giving TDR if we want to acquire these structures.

4.    Also, we need to give some extra FSI to adjoining structures if it’s possible for accommodating the tenants or owners in heritage structures.

5.    We need to make a heritage map of the city to promote awareness of our heritage sites as well to assist tourists. Today even a proper Puneite often doesn’t know where to look for heritage structures. Due to present situation, it is impossible to have a heritage walk. We can have a heritage drive of the Pune city and suburb with locations covering all the important structures.

6.    There must be a Heritage museum and park in the city where we can proudly display various objects from the past as well the history of our city.

7.   We can device a ‘Maintain and Earn’ scheme for the structures which are in our possession by selling advertising rights around such structures. Also public structures like the watchtower near engineering college can be covered under this scheme.

8.   There has to be a place where we can recreate and display the heritage life-style of this city.

9.   Archeologically speaking, we need to work along with institutes like Deccan College for such initiatives. A policy can be made to preserve archeological findings at locations guided by them.

10.                Initiate an awareness program in public, especially amongst the people residing in and around Heritage structures.

11. On the aesthetic front we will be working for creating the new spots in and around the city .One such ideas is creating small lakes in the Mula- Mutha river. The other could be building of a Kala Gram. Even the ruins of Khadakwasala dam can be beautified.

12.                Identify new Heritage Structures for the future. As today what is new will be historic tomorrow.

13.                Control elevations of the buildings in the precincts of heritage structures. This doesn’t seem to be a practical option in the city area but we can start a thought process.

Besides above a lot can be done provided we want to do it. Remember, no society can survive by forgetting the heritage it has. And its job of every citizen living in this city to preserve the heritage we have, then only we can call us proud citizen of the city & that is our responsibility towards the generations down the line after us!

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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How SAFE is my Home?

In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed...Ralph Waldo Emerson

I always remember these words when the term safety I think of & how apt way in minimum words the wise man has defined it! Really it’s our speed which is the main factor of defining safety. Many will wonder how it is related to the term safety when it’s applied to real estate? Well, read the news about the recent accident or mishap in Pune i.e. Taljai building collapse & the reasoning given by the authorities & you will understand. As per the preliminary reports it’s the speed in which the developer or whoever he claims to be wanted to finish of the building’s civil work is the reason. He didn’t allow the frame work to settle & was behind to complete the work in a great hurry, missing the basic construction time span required for every activity & kept on casting slabs after slabs before the lower structure was ready to take the piling load & we saw the result! Though detailed report yet to come but he was going in great hurry & neglected proper care in that zest seems to be the fact.

Reading that news many a people who have booked a flat in any building or are residing in already any of the building, must have got a lump of fear in their throat thinking about safety of their own home! And who can blame them? If one building at Taljai can fall down just like that, then why can’t other? But then who is to be blamed for the same? Apart from legality there will be usual pass the buck game from all concerned that how they are not at fault! Whose fault it is, the builder's who built it illegally & neglected all safety norms to make some fast money or the people who were working there though knowing they are working under wrong supervision or instructions or the poor customers who booked a flat without confirming the prodigy of the developer & believed in him or the PMC who was waiting to act till the building got occupied or the police/ law makers who isn’t strong enough to make such outlaws fear the law & not dare to indulge in neglecting safety of everybody related to the building? Or even the media who wakes up only after such mishap & then forgets about the same in few days & stop making common man aware regarding such tendencies? Well list can go long way covering politicians, rulers even the NGO's or Whistle blowers who failed to blow the whistle in time!

One thing is sure the safety especially that of human life is most neglected factor in our country as we read/see so many lives getting lost in many such accidents around us when it comes to real estate or construction industry. Reason is we don’t really care for this most important aspect of our own shelter. Commonly life of an RCC i.e. reinforced concrete structure in which most of our today’s buildings are built, is considered as 60-70 years. That’s a time span in which two generations are going to stay through this time span in that house & how much careful we are while buying a home from this factor? Unfortunately in my carrier of 20 years in real estate I haven’t come across even a handful of customers who were curious enough to ask questions about the safety norms we will be following during constructions leave apart visiting the ongoing construction work & check the same by themselves! When it comes to safety norms it’s a two way thing, one is work safety which is supposed to be followed for the safety of people working at site & second is structure's safety i.e. safety of the building which is being constructed.

One visit to the working site with open eyes & you will come to know many things about the safety & attitude of the developer about the same. As a person or an organization if they are careless about their own workers safety at site what guarantee they won’t have the similar approach towards the building also? There have been incidences of mishaps at sites & people losing lives which also is safety lack on developer’s part. To ensure all safety measures at site is not only must for avoiding site accidents but for assuring quality construction also, which helps in coming years for building's durability. Here it’s very important to know what kind of construction techniques the developer is adopting & the client should ask for work specifications along with amenities of the project. Here specification means defining technical details of the project in detailed way. For e.g. what kind of concrete is being used i.e. strength of the concrete, construction processes used in making the frame structure. Each slab & columns after casting has got a definite period to de-shutter the supports of the same after casting the concrete. It’s to ensure that the structure has gained enough strength to support its own weight. Proper curing for a particular time span after coasting to every concrete member is also a must thing & has to be followed at site. Things like anti termite treatment to the foundation to avoid settlement of sub base due to scouring of termites & strata checking certificate from the registered structural engineer. These things may look small & insignificant but the foundation on which the entire building is standing has to be confirmed of being capacity to take the load of the same.

Unfortunately as I have regularly pointed out most of the customer are either ignorant or careless about knowing the work details of the building which is going to be their home for next generations. In my entire carrier rarely I have come across a flat holder who has ever asked questions like what is brand & type of cement I am using? Do I perform any quality tests to ensure strength of the materials I use at site? If yes then can I produce record of such test reports? Also it’s equally important to have all the work is being carried out legally with necessary permissions from the concerned governing body like PMC or Collector who ever it may be. As  when you follow such procedure then there is a provision of having periodical certificates from the qualified & registered structural designer as well architect about the building’s work is being done with proper norms. And as a customer you can always ask your developer to produce such certification from the designer or architect, for e.g. before obtaining Occupation/ Completion certificate PMC asks for Stability Certificate from the registered structural designer about the strength of the building from the developer but no client ever asks for the copy of the same! And if you are going to book a flat which don’t have any legal status then obliviously the developer is not going to obtain any such stability certificate. Here is why most of the time illegal structures are more prone to mishaps. And remember when we say safety of structure it’s not just structural safety but there can be fire or floods or earthquakes sort of natural calamities. The building should be built keeping in mind all such factors as in the age of glass cladding & fancy designs many a times these situations are neglected & it’s too late when we realized the drawbacks of such designs. Adequate emergency exits & fire resistivity of the construction material used should be checked.

After all a good, solid & safe building doesn’t just happen automatically but its outcome of a dedicated team of professionals who aims for quality. And no quality can be achieved by ignoring safety factor & for that each working step has to be given its designated time without over speeding just for the sake of completing the job at hand. So instead blaming all others, understand your responsibility towards the safety of your own building & join hands with the people only who understands the same, is what I will say!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com