This is in response to an article written by Mr Vijay Phanshikar in the column Footloose in Nagpur published on May 21. This is ridiculous and the said legality is borne out of total fraudulent mind/minds, machinations to suit some professional community. How can the FSI of a plot of land elsewhere be used to complete the FSI norm of a particular place? A piece of land is a physical space made inhabitable by the Corporation by adding civic amenities. When neighbouring plots of similar dimensions are attached, a society is formed and a colony of people start residing. The individual houses with their gardens and upkeep of their surrounding area provide an environment where birds, butterflies, squirrels, cats and dogs also come to stay.

 

This is a normal colony in an Indian city. In recent times however, with population increase and public demand, to accommodate all, apartment schemes are on the rise. So far so good. But a trend rapidly increasing is construction of seven floor buildings in small 3000-4000 sq.ft. plots! The plot of your aging neighbour goes for redevelopment. Without any notice, JCB machines start working, metal beating metal sounds are echoing and upto the permissible hours, large heavy vehicles carrying all types of construction material are navigating the narrow lanes, tearing the branches of shade giving trees on the road or snapping the overhead cables. We must not get annoyed by all this, maybe many would say, but we have the old, the sick, the infants in many houses who need a little less of this noise. We have work which requires silence just as a school or college should not have a busy road at its side where continuous honking and noises of all kinds disturb.

 

And finally, the underlying sewage system, corporation water network, the roads, the electric infrastructure are also upgraded to take up the extra load simultaneously with these rapidly increasing building requirements of many more ACs, more water supply with increasing large tanks, sewage disposal lines, etc. To say the least, I am not even questioning when the breeze will disappear moving between each of our houses, when we will stop saying the gayatri mantra with the rising sun, when we will no more be talking of our oranges but will converse only about the growing heat, flooding of houses after heavy rain and growing prices of property in the city.