Pollution check: KMC makes real-time air & noise quality monitoring mandatory

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has made the display of real-time air and noise quality monitoring mandatory for all construction sites measuring 20000 sq metres (2.2 lakh sq feet) or more. The move assumes significance as construction sites have emerged as a major contributor to the city’s air pollution. “Developers undertaking big projects should monitor pollution levels and display the same in the construction site in a proper manner for awareness of the nearby residents. Projects that are coming up on sites measuring less than 20000 square metres do not need to display pollution levels. The measure has been approved by the Member-Mayor-in-Council (MMiC),” said Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim.

All under-construction buildings, however, must display the name of the LBS/architect, premises number, the sanction number mentioning the number of floors etc prominently at the site. Hoarding size should be 6 ft by 3 ft. “If we come across any construction without a proper display board, the work will be deemed illegal and a stop work notice will be served,” said Hakim. The Mayor said that the civic body has also decided to reduce the open area requirements for small plots. A house coming up on a 7 chhatak (300sqft) to 10 chhatak (450sqft) plot will now need to leave only 1ft of open space in front, 1ft each on two sides and 3ft at the back. The maximum height of the building could be 10 metres, which engineers said is the height of a three-storey structure. The KMC has broken up plot sizes upto 3 cottah into several slabs — 7 chhatak to 10 chhatak; 11 chhatak to 1 cottah; 1cottah to 2 cottah; 2 cottah to 3 cottah — with an accompanying mandatory open space requirement for each slab. “The LBS will submit the building plan and we will provide sanction within 15 days. When the construction is completed till the plinth, we will carry out an inspection,” Hakim said. The relaxation in the mandatory open space requirement for buildings coming up on ‘thika’, bustee and colony land of plot sizes of no more than 3 cottah is aimed at encouraging a larger proportion of owners to get their building plans cleared by engineers before construction. The regularisation fee of an illegal structure on a 3 cottah plot (in colony, thika and bustee area) that was about Rs 3.27 lakh has been reduced to Rs 42,000. It will be mandatory for the owners to provide a structural stability certificate when applying for such a regularisation fee.