Urban planners decode why Mumbai high-rises cannot go further higher

Ever wanted to someday live in a plush 100storey building like yoursquove seen the Americans do in Hollywood films You might have to wait for a bitEarlier this week a report by Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis CBRE an American real estate consultant firm made quite a splash among Mumbaikars because it stated that the city of dreams accounts for 77 per cent of the countryrsquos highrises Titled Sky is the Limit Rise of Tall Buildings in India the report delves into the highs and lows of the countryrsquos tall buildingsldquoIt is more to do with necessity than a trendrdquo Gurjot Bhatia CBRErsquos Managing Director Project Management India SE Asia Middle East and Africa tells midday when we catch up with him to chat about the reportIn Mumbai experts say expansion was limited by the sea unlike Delhi which has seen a concentric expansion This is why vertical expansion became an inevitable need for the city The scarcity of land continues to give rise to high demand and subsequently steep prices central and south Mumbai known for the prestige that comes with the premium locations are becoming hubs for highrise clusters the report states These densely populated areas enjoy excellent connectivity through public transport and road networks and command a premium real estate price compared to other parts of the cityYomesh Rao and Gurjot BhatiaEven then the limit is far below the skyCurrently the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation allows for a Floor Space Index FSI of two to five for buildings in the city Simply put the FSI indicates the extent to which a building can be constructed vertically in relation to the land area For example if the FSI for a particular area is two it means that the total floor area of a building can be up to twice the size of the land areaHowever Bhatia says mega metros like New York or Tokyo enjoy FSIs beyond five The bigger and the more concerning challenge however is the lack of infrastructure ldquoWe may create a tall building but if we do not have the firefighting skills for such buildings why would you as a developer take the risk Why would you build something that tall when you know you donrsquot have the means to counter any untoward incident Even the government must adopt a holistic perspective For a developer fire safety measures are a major concern when it comes to taller buildingsrdquoEven the design issues when it comes to fire safety can be ironed away on the drawing board Bhatia says but can the same be said of the fire tenders used by the Fire Brigade Do they have the equipment to reach 100 storeys in case of an emergency or a helicopter rescue planldquoThese factors have been a dampener on any developerrsquos plans to take up a 100storey projectrdquo says BhatiaAnother reality is that Mumbai has grown around the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport as opposed to a city like New York where the Newark Liberty International John F Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports are all far away from the city As a result New York boasts of the Freedom Tower which replaced the World Trade Center and stands tall at 5462 metres or 104 storeys ldquoDue to the height restrictions of 20 nautical miles owing to Airport proximity which extends all the way up to Dahisar Mumbai has never been able to build highrises in the centre of the city Additionally the higher a developer goes the more expensive the construction is and thereby the cost of the home Ironically this means that you cannot build these homes away from the island city because that kind of buying power exists only here In other words those who can buy homes in highrises do not live in areas where the highrises can be built without restrictionsrdquo says Yomesh Rao a Mumbaibased architectThe highcost of maintenance too is an issue The maintenance for highrises can be as high as Rs 25 per square foot which means a home owner would end up paying Rs 25000 for a 1000 square foot apartment to say nothing of the other chargesFor example the Lodha Bellssimo Tower one of the earlier highrise projects in Mumbai has its residents shelling out R5000 just for concierge services Meanwhile the tallest building in Mumbai currently is Lodharsquos WorldOne in Worli which stands at 76 storeys The cheapest home in this building is available for Rs 75 crore and the most expensive for Rs 30 crore