CHENNAI: The much-awaited second master plan for Chennai city is likely to be rolled out on August 30 after the cabinet gives its official stamp of approval.

The cabinet had earlier referred the master plan to a cabinet sub-committee headed by electricity minister Arcot N Veerasamy. A month ago, the sub-committee submitted its recommendations and it is learnt that CM M Karunanidhi has also given his nod. The revised document will once again be tabled before the cabinet on August 30, following which it would be released, a highly-placed source in the government said.

As the master plan is not likely to increase the floor space index (FSI) substantially, it could come as a shock for many business houses, especially in the T Nagar area, the commercial and retail hub of the city, where building violations abound. While it is estimated that the city has close to 1.7 lakh buildings that have violated construction rules since February 28, 1999 - the cut-off date for the first regularization scheme - the worst cases of violations are in T Nagar, where a few dozen traders have constructed buildings which measure more than twice the permissible builtup area.

Though the government had promulgated an ordinance a month ago to prevent the demolition of unauthorized buildings in the city for another year, their fate will hang in the balance unless the FSI limit is hiked in the building rules.

However, there are indications that there will be a marginal increase of 0.25 in the FSI for buildings coming up on big roads. Also, the premium FSI prescribed in the draft master plan has not been altered, it is learnt. The premium FSI is 0.5 for special buildings (ground plus three) and 1 for multi-storey buildings in specific areas, which will be notified. The government will collect an additional charge for sanctioning premium FSI and the money thus collected will be deposited in an escrow account for infrastructure development.

Another significant decision taken by the authorities is not to expand the Chennai metropolitan area (CMA) for the time being. A debate was on for quite some time as to whether some more areas under Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts could be brought under the CMDA limits. Those who argued in favour of expansion said much of the ongoing developments in Chennai were taking place outside the CMDA limits and it would make better sense to integrate those areas with Greater Chennai. As of now, the CMA boundaries are Uthandi on the East Coast Road, Semmancherry on the OMR, Kelambakkam near Vandalur on the GST, Poonamallee on the Bangalore Highway and Minjur in North Chennai.

jayaraj.sivan@timesgroup .com