AAI's colour-coded flight path map simplifies building permission norms : Times of India

Builders who wish to construct highrises taller than 50 metres, or above 18 storeys, in certain parts of the suburbs and the island city will have to first get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), as it has reduced the vertical limit of new constructions by 15 to 30 metres. The AAI decision on building height clearance, taken a few months ago, will impact construction work at Malwani, D N Nagar, Versova, Goregaon, Ghatkopar (West) and Mahim.

The decision has not gone down well with the BMC, which cannot give permission for highrises without the AAI's NOC. Civic sources have claimed that after rounds of meetings, the AAI has agreed to “favourably look into the BMC demand to relax the restriction“.

The AAI has restricted building height to ensure a clear path for flights and emergency landing after take-off. Builders must secure an NOC from the AAI before they can start construction. The Airports Authority of India has restricted building height to 50 metres in some areas of the city so that it doesn't hamper the flight path.According to the AAI plan, the cap on new buildings from Jogeshwari station to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road and Eastern Express Highway to LBS Road has been reduced to 50 metres from 65 metres at present. It has put a similar cap for Goregaon (West), D N Nagar, Versova and Mahim Junction, where the earlier limit was 80 metres.

But there is some good news or builders--the AAI has raised the cap in some parts of the city.The height restriction around Chembur monorail station, Kur a, Govandi, Mankhurd, Chunabhatti and GTB has been raised to 50m from 30m. Similar y, the cap at Bandra-Kurla Complex has been raised to 50m from 45m. As for Central Mumbai, where mill lands have given way to concrete blocks, there is scope or skyscrapers to come up.

Based on the flight path and the emergency route, the AAI has prepared a colourcoded map for the city , with five divisions.

If one goes by the colour codes, the south Mumbai, Dadar-Parel and Borivli-Dahisar belts show the highest potential for tall buildings.

AAI officials said the map will simplify the process and control corruption. “The com mon man can also understand the height restriction of buildings in their area after perusing the map,“ said VSP Chinson, general manager aerodromes), western region, AAI.

Once the decision on caps s taken, BMC and AAI will in egrate their software based on the map. This will allow any builder to find out the building height limit of their area online without having to run to an authority for details.