CHENNAI : The state government has decided to relax the minimum road width norm for layouts to ensure that plots in unapproved layouts in town and village panchayats that were regularised over the years get planning permission expeditiously.
A government order issued by the housing secretary said the minimum road width norm for layouts will be reduced from seven metres to 6.5 metres in towns and to six metres in village panchayats by amending the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules of 2019. But the road width requirement for residential layouts in Chennai Metropolitan Area, peri-urban village panchayats, municipal corporations, and municipalities will continue to be seven metres, the order said.
According to sources, a total of 27,690 unapproved layouts have been regularised after the regularisation scheme for such layouts was introduced on May 4, 2017. But many of these layouts have road width of less than seven metres. Since the roads in such regularised layouts act as access roads for newly formed layouts located near them, planning permission to these newly formed layouts was also delayed, though most of these new layouts were formed adhering to the road width requirement.
Sources said the issue was discussed during a review meeting held under the housing minister on August 31 last year. Based on the discussion, the Director of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) submitted a proposal to the government to amend the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules, 2019, to modify the road width norm for access roads.
Boost for housing sector in rural areas
Builders Association of India DTCP Committee Chairman Rama Prabhu said this would bring huge relief to unapproved layouts that were regularised but could not get planning permission due to issues related to minimum road width. The new road norm would help growth of the housing sector in rural areas, he said.