Vision of Life; by Sanjay: TOD, TDR, FSI & City!

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, which in actual is a government big enough to take from you everything you have”… Gerald R. Ford.

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from August 1974 to January 1977. Before his accession to the presidency, Ford served as the 40th vice president of the United States from December 1973 to August 1974. Ford was Lt. Commander in US Navy also before joining politics & that’s why he can bluntly say above words about govt from public forum! I wonder how many our politicians (read rulers) can dare to do so but then they do know that’s the truth at least when it giving something as big as Metro to the Pune city! Well, I am not sarcastic but recently reading (read facing) the policies of the govt (and I am not referring to any political party but the govts’; past present & future too) I am not just getting sarcastic but frustrated, angry, defeated & what not! Still if you don’t believe me then read the recent news about TOD or Paid FSI or Premium FSI or TDR ; sorry, if you are lucky enough you haven’t heard about it then no matter you can ignore all this stuff but by chance you are any way related to real estate then god bless you can’t ignore it. And yes even if you are aware citizen (jagruk nagrik) then also you should not ignore as all these terminologies may not bother you today directly but yours as well your city’s (i.e. Pune) fate is directly connected to all this!

And let me explain what all these terms mean & it’s not any rocket science but are simple terminologies complicated by the policy makers. First of all you all must have been knowing that “Mai Baap” govt is coming up with many big things (read projects) for us the people! Like Metro (its type of rail-way for the city), then HCMTR means it’s an elevated road passing through the city to divert the traffic from the city center without obstructing city traffic (amazing idea isn’t it?) then we have BRTS i.e. Bus Rapid Transit Route means dedicated routes (road/lanes whatever you call it what’s the difference it makes!) & there is a Ring Road (rather two ring roads) for the entire Pune region. And all these things (read projects) are to make Pune’s citizen’s life comfortable & they do need lots of money & main issue is govt, neither State or PMC/ PMRDA/ PCMC don’t have money to build these projects! But that doesn’t mean the govt should abandon its citizens & make them suffer with poor infrastructure, so the govt has come up with this idea of all above terms which all in nutshell meant just one this that it, Buildable Area! So TOD means Transport Oriented Development by virtue of which govt can make policies to generate money for transportation related projects as well to make operation of these facilities profitable. Means, you will build a Metro but what will happen if there are not enough people to travel by this Metro, how the Metro will survive then? So, you need people & lots of them to reside around the Metro track & these all people will need homes, isn’t it? So the govt allows more home to build around the Metro under the TOD by generating FSI i.e. Floor Space Index to build these additional homes. Here the word Space in FSI is the only virtual as there said buildable area (FSI) is going to be utilized on the available space only because unfortunately however big (read powerful) the govt may be it just can’t generate the land i.e. space around the Metro or BRTS or HCMTR or the Ring Road, so it generated virtual Space!

Fine, no more sarcastism for all these noble thinking of the govt but problem is as usual the way these noble thoughts are converted in to the policies! As first of all let’s put behind now the basic thought which comes to my mind that we need more travelers i.e. homes or citizens whatever you call it for the Metro to be profitable (to start I am considering only Metro) or we need money to build the Metro. For what we are adopting this TOD policy for creating more homes with the additional FSI as this question is the key to our problems. Because if we wasn’t having enough travelling population for Metro then why we thought of having a Metro in first place? And then if we want money to be raised to build the Metro then is giving additional FSI along the Metro route itself only viable option available? Why can we give additional FSI in the periphery of say five kilometers circle beyond the Metro terminals where land is available & proper infra can be developed? And here you give 4 FSI under TOD by which more homes can be created & the raised money via premiums charged for this FSI utilization can be used for Metro building. And along the Metro route give additional TDR & use that money to acquire other reservations in the city which will be going to be of equal need in future for the increased population as all this population living in the homes created by 4 FSI won’t be traveling twenty four hours in Metro only! They will need roads, gardens, cinema halls, hospitals, schools, mall & many such things, yes offices also & oh yes water, drainage, power, and internet too! From where we will be creating all this, we (read govt) will be having neither money nor space to accommodate all this!

Well, let’s keep behind this as Metro is already rolling (read work has started) so we can’t undo it but at least we can change the policies related to money generation for building it as well future operations. Now let’s see what was the scene before Metro (read TOD) came in the picture rather let’s see what’s difference between TOD premium FSI as well TDR & paid FSI, I meant the earlier category? Before the Metro, PMC was allowing TDR i.e. FSI i.e. buildable potential rights on any plot from 1.4 times to nearly 2 times i.e. as per the size & road frontage of the plot. This too was in debate as for the plots with fronting road’s width below 9 meters, on such plats no TDR was allowed making many plots in the city area unviable for TDR. Again the logic given then was to reduce the future congestion on city roads due to increased traffic by this additional TDR building. Now don’t ask what will happen to entire city with nearly three fourth of the city getting 4 FSI! Sorry, no sarcastism I have promised, yet can’t help; anyways now issue is the charges (read money) generated through this 4 FSI which will be recoved from the builders of such projects (read flat buyers). As TDR was generated by acquiring the reservation lands in the PMC area as govt don’t have money to buy such lands but now when the builder or society or the land lord will get 4 FSI under TOD then who will give his or her land under reservation in lieu of TDR, is the question people are asking! And at the same time there was paid FSI provision already with PMC which was up to 2 times of the net plot area & joke is the rates charged for this paid premium FSI by PMC has been increased by 30% for the 4 TOD FSI & if the use is IT i.e. Information Technology Parks the these premiums has been hiked by nearly 150%! So the govt want to make the cake, eat it & yet keep some reserve also! Wow, great, you want 4 FSI then pay for it, fine but why one should buy such high rate FSI when he can get cheaper paid FSI by PMC or FSI generated by TDR? Don’t worry the govt has answer to that also (remember quote of Mr. President of USA?) & answer is if you are unlucky to have plot in Metro zone (well that’s another joke, will explain) then you can’t have paid FSI or TDR or there are restrictions to use that so you have to buy 4 FSI at the rates govt has described! And most importantly what about the land rates which will be demanded by such lands whose Smart Land Lords knows now that their land’s potential is increased by 4 times by the govt! So after buying land at such high rate will it be viable for the category of people who will travel by Metro, to live in these houses by paying the prevailing market rate which will be sky high with all this loading of expenses!

If, by now you head is spinning by reading all these stuff (imagine you are just a citizen; think what the builders, architects, city planners must be going through!) then take a commercial break, watch some Netflix series & start reading again! So, by now you have understood there are three types of FSI’s in one city & all three has different rates charged by the govt for allowing its use. And this too has been published now i.e. after Metro work has started & nearly one year back. Look at our vision, that we knew Metro is going to come some five years back but we couldn’t decide how the money is going to be raised for the same! It’s like we have a son & we know some day we are going to educate him, then get him married but we don’t know how he will raise his family post marriage or what will happen to our grandsons! As we are yet deciding how we will get him married in first place; same is the situation about Metro is what I feel! And then in one city as we have two development plans we have two policies for utilizing TOD generated FSI also (thank god, consistent we are, at least in making confusing polices, I must say!) because in PMC limit 4 FSI will be given in 500 meters circle of Metro stations & in PMRDA limits it will 500 meters all along the metro track, wonderful! Btw if a plot is unfortunate enough & coming in between two circles of Metro stations then even though it’s right on Metro track it won’t get 4 FSI is it(those who knows a bit of geometry can imagine what I want to say)? And then on top of this apex is confusion in parking provisions for the buildings with 4 FSI as how we will be accommodating parking for all these homes as if you have any doubts then ask any builder can he sale even a 1 bhk flat without car park or ask any flat buyer that will he buy a flat without the car park, there lies the answer in failure of the 4 FSI policy which is written on the wall but we are avoiding to read it!

I am not that fanatic types environmentalist neither I am against any development but high time especially about our so called Smart City as what we are going to make her end as! Because on one side rates of properties are stand still or going down yet on other side flat buyers are unable to buy even at so low rate! This means only one thing the product we call home is unviable for both i.e. makers as well the buyers & this is failure of policy makers only! Call it TOD or Paid FSI or TDR, question I want to ask the govt is what you want as end result while creating all these terminologies as if as govt your target is to make money for yourself only then nothing is going to work because in the process the policies become useless for all the users! Instead what I will suggest to the govt is, to become builder by yourself then as a govt you only give contract to the existing builders to build the homes & build as much with 4 or 6 FSI & the way you want & sale at whatever rate you can & then use that money (if at all it comes) to build Metro, Ring Road, HCMTR & what not! Only thing is then there will be lots of homes available & by luck (read out of helplessness) you may get people to buy them also but will there be life in those homes, is what I will ask!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html