KMC boost to buildings on ‘small’ plots hoping to avoid further illegal constructions
Telegraph | 8 March 2025
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to relax the mandatory open space requirement for buildings coming up on thika, bustee and colony land of plot sizes of no more than 3 cottahs in the hope that it will encourage a larger proportion of owners to get their building plans cleared by engineers before construction.
The civic body also reduced the regularisation fee of illegal structures on colony, thika and bustee land while making it mandatory for the owners to provide a structural stability certificate when applying for regularisation.
Civic officials said existing building rules made it difficult for owners of small plots to get building plans approved by the KMC. Thus, buildings would come up without an engineer’s supervision and the notice of the civic body.
“The changes announced on Friday will ensure some sort of quality check,” said an official.
“We have 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,” Hakim said.
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 up to 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.
Earlier, all buildings, irrespective of plot size, had to leave at least 4ft open on all four sides, a KMC official said. The mandatory open space requirement could have varied on the four sides, but none could be less than 4ft.
“I had formed a committee on how to build a house on a small plot. The committee submitted its report, and the mayoral council has adopted it,” said Hakim.
The change comes after at least two buildings in the city tilted in January. A four-storey building in Jadavpur’s Vidyasagar Colony tilted after its pillars collapsed. KMC officials said they found that many buildings in the area had come up without a plan certified by the civic body.
Later in January, two houses in Tangra were spotted tilting towards each other, one leaning more than the other. Both had come up without valid building permits.
“The regularisation fee of an illegal structure on a 3-cottah plot (in colony, thika and bustee area) was about ₹3.27 lakh. We have brought it down to ₹42,000. They have to get a certificate from a structural engineer,” said Hakim.
KMC sources said this will ensure some checks and scrutiny of a structure that may have been built without the supervision of a qualified engineer.
“The LBS (an engineer) will submit a building plan and we will approve it within 15 days,” Hakim said on Friday while speaking on allowing buildings on tiny plots.
“There is a history of constructing illegal buildings across the colony, bustee and thika plots. We want to stop that and also bring in some quality check,” said the official.
“In other parts of Calcutta, we will not allow any illegal construction,” said the official.