High-Rise Buildings in Mumbai Require Nod from Meteorological Dept
Builders who want to build skyscrapers over 20 floors in South and Central Mumbai will now have to get an approval from the regional meteorological department in order to get their building plans sanctioned.
In a recent move, the regional meteorological department drastically reduced the height of two proposed towers by half, as these buildings could interfere with the new Doppler weather radar that has been installed about 3 years ago in Navy Nagar. According to gathered information, the meteorological department reduced the height of a proposed skyscraper in Wadala. The height of the proposed building was reduced from 40 floors (143 mt) to 24 floors (84.87 mt). The department also had reduced the height of another proposed building in Girgaum from 50 floors (172.5 mt) to 21 floors (73.56 mt) last year.
Though according to the development control rules (DCR), the meteorological department does not have any provision of imposing this rule, the Bombay Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) high-rise panel has insisted that the builders procure an NOC (no objection certificate) from the meteorological department if the building is within a radius of 10 km of the radar. The initial proposed radius was 25 km.
The state government has currently formed a committee to iron out the issues regarding concerning the high-rise buildings and the meteorological department. Developers have protested saying that in most global cities, such weather monitoring systems were installed a couple of hundred kilometers away from the cities. No decision has been taken yet in regards to this issue by the state government.
The Doppler radar
After the deluge which devastated Mumbai in July 2005, the meteorological department was forced to replace the conventional cyclone detection radar with the Doppler weather radar which was technologically advanced. After inspection of various sites for their suitability of installing this radar, the Indian Navy permitted the department to install the radar in Navy Nagar. Authorities said that the installation had already been stalled for 4-5 years as the department could not find a suitable location for installation. Now, if construction of high-rise buildings (any building with more than 22 floors or 73 mt) were allowed in Central and South Mumbai, the operational services of the radar would be blocked over a large area.
