For Metro project, Maharashtra to exclude development nod from planning body

To avoid any delay in the Metro project due to wait for administrative nod, the Maharashtra government has decided to exclude development permission from planning authorities, including all municipal corporations, for the infrastructure construction work for the Metro rail.

To avoid any delay in the Metro project due to wait for administrative nod, the Maharashtra government has decided to exclude development permission from planning authorities, including all municipal corporations, for the infrastructure construction work for the Metro rail.

In a notification, the state government said the Metro rail operational constructions should be excluded from development permission for faster implementation of the Metro network. Accordingly, the state government proposed a special provision for Metro Rail Constructions in the Development Control (DC) regulations of the municipal corporations.

As per the special provision, permission of the commissioner or chief executive officer of the authority would not be neccessary to construct structures for operational purpose of the Metro rail service. “Notwithstanding anything contained in the existing regulation, the constructions for operational purposes of the new railway lines or tracks by the Metro Rail Administration (MRA) or Project Implementing Agency designated by the Government for the Metro rail and Mono rail or Light Rail Transit (LRT) projects,” it said.

The structures that would not require permission of the respective civic body include operation control centre, playback training room, administration building, stabling yards, maintenance workshop and training centre, auto car wash plant and auto wash plant, auxiliary rail vehicle building, under-floor wheel lathe and blow down plant, cooling tower, generator area, auxiliary substation, traction substation, transformer area, water treatment plant, waste water treatment plant, depot control centre, sump area, parking, check post, loading and unloading areas, fouling points, DG set rooms, Metro and Mono stations (underground and elevated), viaduct and tunnel, ventilation shaft, entry /exit blocks, passages, underground passage to station box, lifts, staircases, escalators, transit accommodation/ guest house /guest rooms, air handling unit, fire staircase, fire lift and fire passages and refuge area.

In case of Mumbai Metro, the state government had already taken a decision to incorporate provision of excluding development permission for construction in the Development Control Regulation of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.

The notification said the state Urban Development Department was of the opinion that for faster implementation of Pune and Nagpur Metro Rail Network and Metro Rail Network outside Greater Mumbai, the same provision should be incorporated in the Development Control Regulations for the municipal corporation.

Thus, the Urban Development Department has decided in the public interest to carry out urgently a suitable modification in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 37 of the Maharashtra Region Town Planning (MRTP) Act.

The state government had sought suggestion and objection on the modifications and appointed an officer to give a hearing to public and submit report on the proposed amendment. After considering the report and consulting the state Director of Town Planning, the state government was of the opinion that the proposed modification is required to be sanctioned while making the municipal corporations to add the provision in their DC rules, it said.

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