A strict 14-year-old building rule irks Hyderabad realtors

Hyderabad: Real estate developers and residents in Hyderabad are unhappy with the government’s decision to strictly enforce a 14-year-old building law through the BuildNow software.

The rule, introduced in 2012, prohibits building permissions for residential plots less than 20 feet wide. With the recent modification, the software will automatically reject applications that do not meet the required criteria.

This triggered a wave of protests, mainly in Hyderabad’s Old City area, as the software did not accept the reconstruction of old buildings. Several houses there are built on small plots measuring just 60 to 70 square yards, with road-facing widths of less than 20 feet.

The rule will affect middle-class and economically weaker families.

But officials stress a stricter rule is required to prevent people from dividing larger plots into smaller ones and building houses on them. They argue that small spaces result in unplanned construction, building safety issues, narrow lanes, fewer places to walk, and drainage and civic issues.

A senior Municipal Administration Department (MAUD) official told Times of India that some developers had been dividing plots to avoid the mortgage rule.

However, intense protests forced officials to make changes in the software. It now accepts applications, but the final approval will be based on site inspections.

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