case study

1. F.A.R. and Bye Law Violation

2. What is F.A.R.
• The total square units of a building divided by the total square units of the plot
the building is located on.
• FAR is used by local governments in zoning codes.
• Higher FARs indicate denser settlement and construction.
• Buildings of varying numbers of stories can have the same FAR, because the FAR
counts the total floor area of a building, not just the building's footprint.
• These days less FAR is given to Urban areas to promote decongestion while
higher FAR is given in Suburbs to promote development

3. F.A.R. =
Total Covered Area of all floors
_____________________________
Plot Area

4. F.A.R. is specified as per…
• Occupancy class
• Type of construction
• Width of street fronting the building and traffic load
• Locality where the building is proposed and its density
• Parking facilities
• Local fire fighting facilities
• Water supply and drainage facilities
• Vertical expansion is promoted by increasing Floor Area Ratio incrementally in
proportion to population growth. In India this will control the horizontal
expansion of town and which reduces conversion of agricultural (fertile) land
into non agricultural land.

5. What are Bye Laws
• During construction of any building, certain restrictions are laid down by Municipal bodies,
Urban development authorities and other government departments to clear open spaces to
be left round the building.
• Allows disciplined and systematic growth of buildings and towns and prevent haphazard
development.
• Protect safety of public against fire, noise, health hazards and structural failures and proper
utilization of space.
• Maximum efficiency in planning can be derived from these bye laws by giving guidelines to
the architect or an engineer in effective planning and useful in preplanning the building
activities.
• Due to these by-laws, each building will have proper approaches, light, air and ventilation
which are essential for health, safety and comfort.

6. Bye Laws focus on these points
• Building permission
• Zoning
• Sub-division of Land
• Land use, open space, built-up area and height limitation.
• Floor Area Ratio
• Lighting and ventilation
• Structural design
• Material and method of construction

7. How are rules violated?
• Bye law violation is a mutual effort of authorities, builders etc. to sidestep
important rules in favour of more construction.
• These laws are considered hindrance and restrictions in fully exploiting the land.
• Civic amenities are sacrificed like wider roads, open grounds, parks etc.
• Violation is done through constructing additional floors, construction on site
setback, balconies being covered into living rooms and providing stair case in set
backs.
• MCD recently suggests that in about 60-70% of the residential units, some
portion(s) of the building could be unauthorized and/or in violation of the
permissible use.

8. F.A.R. Violation Case Study
Supertech Emerald Court, Noida
Aadarsh Society, Mumbai
Emaar CWG Village vs DDA, Delhi

9. The case of Supertech Emerald Court
Allahabad High Court had ordered the demolition of two 40-storeyed buildings at Supertech's
Emerald Court project off Noida's Expressway.
The HC said that builders, by joining hands with officers of the development authorities, flout rules
and building regulations
The petitioner (RWA) had claimed the Noida authority had given permission for raising the height
of the two towers, which was supposed to have only 24 floors
The mandatory distance of 16 M from an adjoining building block was not maintained, making it
unsafe and blocking air and light.
Through a sanction order of March 2012, the towers' height had been raised from 66 M to 121 M.
545 flats have been found to be in accordance with the sanctioned plan. 220 were unauthorized

10. Claims by case defenders
• Supertech claims that it has not violated these norms. But the
construction of additional towers obstructed the view of the original
buyers.
• A new norm, called Apartment Act, was introduced in 2010.
• Under these norms, additional construction was allowed but for that,
the developer had to take consent from at least 60% of the old buyers
• Supertech had started the project in 2006. In 2009, it got the
permission to built additional flats. The Apartment Act was introduced
in 2010. The CMD of Supertech, RK Arora, said the new norms are not
applicable to his projects so they are contesting the case in court.

11. The case of Aadarsh Society, Mumbai
Adarsh Housing Society is located in Colaba, a posh area of
Mumbai
6,000 sq.ft of plot (over) in the military complex in Colaba was
released for residential use.
The building was supposed to be of 6 storey for War veterans
and widows but the building ended up being a 31-storey tower.

12. Stages of Scam
• Proposal of the project came up before the Shiv Sena - BJP government with Narayan Rane as
the Chief Minister.
• Application came up the following year, when Vilasrao Deshmukh was Chief Minister.
• At this time, the allotment application was sought in the name of providing homes for war
widows and veterans
• September, the MMRDA had given the occupation certificate to Adarsh Housing Society.
• Adarsh was granted additional FAR of an adjacent plot that had been reserved for a bus depot

13. Stages of Scam continued……
• The Adarsh building flouted environmental laws.
• It was found that both the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone
Management Authority were in the dark about who exactly gave clearance to the 31- storeyed building
• MOEF(Ministry Of Environment Forest) contended to HC that Adarsh co-operative society had violated
norms pertaining to FAR
• Society had utilised the FAR of the adjoining plot reserved for Brihunmumbai Electricity Supply And
Transport (BEST Depot)
• FAR of the adjoining plot measured to 2,669sqm was utilised for Adarsh

14. The case of Emaar MGF group CWG village vs. DDA
DDA officials said Emaar had constructed 23,098.35 sq m in
addition to the sanctioned plan.
The violations are in the form of extra rooms in some flats and
community facilities
Excess FAR, was close to 12,800 M SQ.
10,257 sq m of excess construction was compounded as per
provisions of Master Plan of Delhi 2021

15. 12,841.3 sq m can't be compounded as there is no provision for
it in the Master Plan
The ministry said that there is no provision in Master Plan 2021
to regularize constructed FAR beyond compoundable limit.
When the matter had gone to court, 92 flats (28 flats of Emaar
and two towers with 32 flats each of DDA) were kept aside by
both parties till the dispute was resolved.
The ministry of urban development had left the decision on
DDA.