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Building by law, hardly
Successive governments have made a mockery of the Shimla Planning Area blueprint through repeated amendments to regularise illegal constructions, writes
Rakesh Lohumi
The process of degeneration of the queen of hills, Shimla, seems virtually irreversible as buildings continue to spring up in blatant violation of the building bylaws. Vast stretches of verdant slopes have been transformed into veritarnment is making plans to decongest the city under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and, on the other hand, it is allowing buildings to come up in violation of laws, creating traffic bottlenecks. It is not an isolated case, a number of major, which came into force in March 1979, through repeated amendments to help regularise unauthorised constructions. In all, 39 amendments have been carried out, mostly to condone deviations, increase the number of permissible storeys and allow construction in banned areas and green belts. What makes it worse is that the government agencies, which are supposed to enforce the building laws, are themselves constructing in utter disregard of the rules and regulations. The gravity of the situation can be judged from the fact that even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed concern about the environmental and aesthetic deterioration of the erstwhile British summer capital. He had discussed the matter with P.K.Dhumal at their very first meeting after his taking over as Chief Minister and urged him to take effective measures to stem the rot. The latest offender is none other than the Public Works Department which has constructed the porch of its head office building on the edge of Circular Road. As per norms, no structure can be constructed up to a distance of 8 m from the edge of the road. In fact, it is the responsibility of the department to enforce the regulation. However, it has itself chosen to violate the law. It is shocking that on the one hand, the government is making plans to decongest the city under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and, on the other hand, it is allowing buildings to come up in violation of laws, creating traffic bottlenecks. It is not an isolated case, a number of major complexes have been allowed to come up on Circular Road, the main traffic artery of the city. It is a sad comment on governance as buildings were pulled down near the Gurdwara and Veterinary hospital in the 1990s to remove traffic bottlenecks. However, subsequently huge structures like Congress Bhawan have been allowed in the vicinity in violation of building laws. The five- storeyed building, with two unauthorised floors has come up over an area of 2612.12 sq m against the leased land measuring 760.02 sq m and without the mandatory NOC (no objection certificate) from the National Highway authorities. Further , big parking lots have been constructed along the road without giving a thought to entry and exit and they only serve as a traffic bottleneck and cause inconvenience to motorists. The new bus stand on the bypass is being constructed on both sides of the road to ensure that there is no free flow of traffic. The authorities seems to have learnt no lesson from the mistakes of the past. Worse, the State Cabinet, which is meant to frame policies, has been sanctioning individual cases of violation in relaxation of the building laws. Instead of enforcing the law, successive governments have been coming out with retention policies to help regularise the unauthorised structures. The previous BJP regime had notified three such policies in 1999, 2000 and 2004 and the successive Congress government came out with three more between 2004 and 2006. Over 3200 applications for regularisation of unauthorised buildings were received under the last policy, out of which 1821 cases pertained to the city. However, the policy could not be implemented as the town and country planning act provided for compounding of deviations only up to 10 per cent, whereas in most cases it ranged from 20 to 50 per cent and even more. The Law Department advised the government to amend the rules to provide for regularisation of deviations up to 50 per cent. A public interest litigation threw a spanner in the plans of the government as the high court stayed the amendment. The matter is still pending in court.
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CHAIN REACTION
As certain supermarket managements have shown keen interest in opening their outlets in the urban estates of Karnal, the residents of the area are finally hopeful of new shopping avenues. Though there are seven residential sectors of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in Karnal, the commercial areas in a majority of them have failed to pick up. Scores of SCOs and booths in Sectors 6, 7, 8, and 9 have been lying unoccupied for years. Karnal is spread on both sides of NH-1 with the old locality is based on the west. Observers say that the shopping areas on the eastern side of GT Road are poorly developed, whereas other side of the township has flourished. Except for a few regular departmental stores and banks, most of the shops remain unoccupied in the HUDA sectors. Shopkeepers and realtors say that scores of entrepreneurs have had to wind up their business due to poor response in various urban estate areas. Real estate sources blame the "discouraging" shopping habits of the local residents for the poor development of the shopping complexes in the new localities. Also, the skyrocketing prices in the urban estates have deterred entrepreneurs from starting businesses there. "The habit of the local population is to stick to the old commercial centres of the township for shopping. These areas are congested but even then they remain the most preferred for shoppers," says a shopkeeper in Sector 7. The owner of another grocery shop in the sector said that his business mainly goes due to the family shop in the old locality. But the residents and realtors have pinned their hopes on at least three chains that have come up in the area. "There is tremendous scope for the improved commercial activities in the sectors and availability of ample parking would be a major attraction here," another realtor adds.
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Mumbai, Delhi world's 4th & 7th most costly office markets
According to a latest study by realty consultant CB Richard Ellis, Mumbai has been ranked 4th in the list of 50 most expensive office markets, slipping from its last year's second position. On the other hand, Delhi has moved up a place to 7th from last year's rankings. "The drop is not due to rentals in Mumbai falling, but because of a significant increase in rentals in London and Moscow," CB Richard Ellis Chairman and Managing Director (South Asia) Anshuman Magazine says. He says the positions of Mumbai and Delhi are still very high and was reflective of the tight supply of prime office space and of demand remaining constantly active. London topped the list of most expensive office markets, followed by Moscow and Tokyo. In May, the monthly rentals in Mumbai and New Delhi were recorded at 210.97 dollar per sq ft and 145.16 dollar per sq ft, respectively. The rentals in London stood at 299.54 dollar a sq ft in a month, the consultant estimated. Paris, Singapore and Dubai also found places in the list at 8th, 9th and 10th positions, respectively. Besides, Mumbai also found a berth at 8th place in the list of world's top 50 fastest growing markets in terms of occupancy costs with 40.7 per cent rise in the last one year. The top three positions were held by Ho Chi Minh City (94.4 per cent), Moscow (92.7 per cent) and Singapore (86 per cent) respectively, CBRE says. Bangalore and New Delhi were also included in the list with 22.6 per cent and 15.3 per cent increase in cost, which in turn placed the cities in 22nd and 45th positions, it adds.
— PTI
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GROUND REALTY
Choosing washbasins: Counter tops can be of granite, marble, ceramic or laminates. Prefer readymade tops with washbasins fitted as their integral part as there is no leakage problem in such integral tops. Otherwise, always seal the joint between the basin rim and the counter with a silicon compound. Further, prefer cantilever counter tops as these save the floor space to the corner for utilization. Use the space above the counter to fix cabinets and mirror. Next choice is of pedestal washbasins provided with glazed pedestals. Whenever you choose a pedestal washbasin, take care that the washbasin is anchored to the wall also. Though pedestals are supposed to bear their weight in full, there always remains a danger of their toppling when only pedestal support is provided. Choose such pedestals that total height of top of washbasin above the floor is 800 mm. Last choice is of wall hung washbasins. Whenever a wall hung washbasin is chosen, remove the plaster of wall at the back of the basin before supporting it on the brackets. Gully traps: Gully traps collect the drain water from the floor traps and discharge it to the inspection chamber. Choose heavy CI gully traps of sufficient depth to allow easy flow of water from floor traps to them and its further discharge without any overflow of Gully traps. See that depth of gully trap is not less than 12’’ and its weight should be equal to or more than the specified 7.26 kg. Check that each gully trap is provided with a 6’’x 6’’ grating. Always provide a 4”-thick concrete bed to each gully trap. Also provide a 1 foot x 1foot masonry chamber for each gully trap covered with an equal sized CI cover. After jointing the floor traps to the gully trap and gully trap to the Inspection chamber, prefer to fill up the space between the trap and the chamber with lean concrete to firmly hold the GT in position. English seats: Whenever you choose European (or English) seat for your bathroom, besides checking the Make, ISI mark, colour and First Quality mark, see that the height of closet above floor is minimum 390 mm. Also see that the depth of water seal in it is not less than 50 mm. Water seal is depth of water above the top point of outlet. Don’t go for commercial quality seats. Though these are cheaper by 10 to 15 per cent, their glazing fades vary soon. Ensure that the WC is free of cracks and in one piece with at least 2 or more holes of 6.5 to 7 mm diameter at its base for fixing it to the floor. Ensure to add washers to the bolts. Further see that the joint of seat with the floor is sealed well. Seat traps: A WC needs a P trap or S trap for its connection to the soil pipe. P trap or S trap may be separately supplied or can be an integral part of the seat. The P trap has an angle of 140 to the horizontal while the S trap is at right angle to horizontal. Provide a P trap if the soil pipe to which the seat is to be connected is running inside the wall. Provide an S trap if the pipe for disposal is through the floor. Mostly soil pipes run inside the walls, therefore P traps are required. For first floor and above, only P traps will be required. Only in exceptional circumstances and that too at ground floor only, disposal pipe may be running through the floor and an S trap may be required. There remain more chances of blockage in S trap seats. Prefer seats with P trap or S trap as integral part of them. When the trap is not an integral part of the pan, fix its joint with the pan in 1:1 cement mortar. Seat lids: For European seats, choose seasoned teak wood lids. Otherwise solid plastic lids of reputed make like Parryware, Commander, Duralite or Admiral may be chosen. Jet spray seat cover is another choice in European seats. Also see that the lid is fixed to the seat by using Chromium Plated brass hinges and screws. Always provide rubber buffers to the lids for their longer life. Match the colour of the lid with the seat if you are choosing a plastic lid. Flushing cisterns: There is a vast range of WC flushing cisterns available these days. CI cisterns are no more preferred and choice is for vitreous china or plastic cisterns. Choose a reputed make like Hind or Parryware. Whichever brand you choose, keep a few basic things in mind. The chinaware cisterns must be minimum 6 mm thick. Prefer to use low level cisterns. Overhead cisterns with their chains dangling at sides are no more in fashion these days. These are also difficult to repair as no head space is available. Sometimes the chain pulling also causes problems. A low level cistern with a lever handle or knob is much preferable. However in low level cisterns, check that the vertical flushing pipe is at least 300 mm long. Flushing pipes: In low level cisterns, the flush pipe must be of minimum 38 mm internal diameter (In high level cisterns, it can be 32 mm diameter only). This is for steel pipes. If PVC pipe is used as flush pipe, it must have still larger diameter of minimum 50 mm for proper functioning of WC and cistern. See that the flush pipe is securely connected to cistern outlet and the joint is fully airtight. Otherwise the flush will develop working problems. Dual flushing: To save water and avoiding its wastage, equip the flushing cisterns with dual flushing equipment. Such cisterns can discharge partial or short quantity of water on urination and full quantity of water for disposal of solid wastes. Both, the bell type as well as siphon type cisterns can be equipped with this arrangement. For partial discharge, chain or handle is just pulled once and left. For full discharge, chain or handle is pulled and held that way till full discharge takes place. Saving of water by a family through this measure can be substantial. Dual flushing cisterns have the instructions affixed on them as below: Short flush: Press handle and let go Long flush: Press handle and hold Sanitaryware manufacturers are producing dual flushing cisterns with different discharge capacities. Earlier, the partial and full discharges were 5 litres and 10 litres respectively. Now, the manufacturers have come out with 3 litre-6 litre combination or even 2litre-7 litre combination. However, 5 litre-10 litre combination remains the best for proper flushings. Flushing time: Prefer to check the flushing time of cisterns at the sanitary ware supplier’s showroom. Most of them keep some sets installed for a demo. A flush of 10 litres should not take more than 6 seconds for full discharge and a short flush of 5 litres should take only 3 seconds. Go ahead. Happy building! The author is deputy chief engineer,
civil, PSEB. He can be reached at www.jagvirgoyal.com
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Construction at a click
And that is not the only facility available on the site. If you want to buy a house, or sell, visiting the site can be a helpful to you a lot. No charges are imposed on you by those who operate the site. It provides you with several alternatives and it is up to you to select any of them for getting the house constructed, designed and purchasing material. You can get several tips from the site. Construction plans of various types of bathrooms, kitchens, drawing rooms, bed rooms, furniture etc are available on the site. You can download any of the construction plan and construct the model you bathroom, kitchen etc accordingly. Gurpreet Singh Gujral, who has created the site, says the coming years will witness a transformation in the skyline of towns and cities as a large number of construction projects are coming up. With the boom in construction activity, people have been facing problems such as finding the best material and products at competitive prices, and sourcing of the best services at the nearest place is another problem. In fact, commoners face lot of problems even in finding a good plumber, mansion, gas connection fitter, electrician, air conditioner fitter etc. “I have tried to tackle all the problems faced by those who want to construct a house through my website. “ On the website, one can find solutions for all problems faced from the beginning to the end of a project. Even manufacturers, sellers and service providers can post their productions and services free of cost on the site. Buyers, traders and service seekers can find the products and services they require. There are interior and exterior sections, including designs of kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, doors, floors, ceiling, living room, window covering and many more which can be followed by for making a home. In the real estate gallery, one can have a look at upcoming real estates, one can view videos and images of housing projects and other information sitting at home, Product buyers and sellers is a vast section and so is the service section, that covers architects, engineers, contractors, builders, property dealers and realtors etc. In the projects and tenders section one can find projects and tenders related to building construction etc. There is also a news section that includes news about the buildings, constructions, new projects etc. Gujral says his site is a coordinator in itself. The platform enables building and construction community to find information, communicate and transact with buyers and sellers. It makes the building and construction business simple, efficient and convenient for general public as well as business establishments. He claims that his site is the only of its kind.
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Concrete action
Adhesives and paint major Pidilite will launch the first of its kind a heat-reducing exterior coating, 'Dr Fixit Heatshield', which will help bring down the room temperature by 5-6 degrees Centigrade and make the house's interiors cooler this summer. Dr Fixit Heatshield reduces the internal temperature of a structure by reflecting most of the solar heat (75%) back into the atmosphere. It forms a very high, heat-resistant barrier with ultra-violet protection, a Pidilite release issued in Mumbai said recently. The product can be applied on a wide variety of roofs or exposed surfaces such as concrete, asbestos and metal, where heat build-up is extensive. The major benefit of using Heatshield is low thermal conductivity. It can withstand prolonged exposure to solar radiation and intense heat. After its application, the cooling of room by air-conditioners and air coolers will be enhanced and also reduce the electricity bills. Heatshield contains no organic solvents or toxic materials and is therefore, an environment-friendly product that has been awarded the 'Green Label Product' certificate from Singapore Environment Council. It has been successfully used in Singapore and Dubai and now introduced in India, it added.
— UNI
Teekays Interior opens branch
Teekays Interior Solutions, a player in the corporate interior fit-out segment, has said it has initiated its operations in Hyderabad. Teekays Interior Solutions offers one-stop solutions in the areas of interior fit-outs and facilities management, Umar Teekay, managing director of the group told newsmen in the city recently. The company has a 2000-strong team of in-house designers, engineers, project managers, workers and vendor coordinators with multi-location presence, Teekay said, adding the company's annual turnover is over Rs 100 crore. "Designing and creating corporate workplaces in today's knowledge economy is not about office aesthetics any more. It is about delivering economic value to the enterprise by enabling business dynamics and supporting the empowerment of people," Teekay said. The Bangalore-based company is setting up a state-of-the-art facility, Teekays MDF at a cost of Rs 206 crore near Bangalore for manufacturing MDF, he added.
— PTI
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TAX TIPS
Q. I want to know about the tax treatment of rent received by a commercial building. I want to know about the permissible deduction on income from property. First, is municipal rent and 30 per cent deduction on rent received u/s 24? Second, should we claim depreciation on the building? — Mohit A. The annual value of a property is deemed to be a sum for which the property might reasonably be expected to let from year to year. However, where the property is let and annual rent received or receivable is in excess of the above amount, the sum so received or receivable will be taken as an annual value. In determining such annual value, the taxes levied by any local authority in respect of the property is deducted to the extent actually paid by an assessee. In accordance with the provisions of Section 24 of the Income-tax Act 1961 (the Act), the income from a commercial property will be computed after making the following deductions from its annual value in the manner specified herein above: (a) A sum equal to 30 pc of the annual value. (b) Where the property has been acquired/constructed with borrowed amount, the amount of any interest payable on such amount. No depreciation is allowable in respect of a property the income of which is taxable under head “Income from house property”.
Handling HRA
— Tarsem Lal, Hoshiarpur A. In accordance with Rule 3(1) of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, where the accommodation is provided by any state government to its employees, the licence fee determined in accordance with the rules framed by the government is required to be added as perquisite value in respect of the free residential accommodation provided to the employee. It seems you have not been provided a free residential accommodation and therefore a deduction to the extent of 5 pc of basic pay etc; has been made towards the rent payable for such accommodation. Since you are not being paid HRA, you are entitled to a deduction under section 80GG of the Act. However, a deduction under this section is allowable if the rent paid is in excess of 10 pc of the total income. As 10 pc of your total income works out at Rs.42,681, which is far in excess of Rs.13,001, no relief is allowable to you under the aforesaid section.
Farm holding
Q. Can a person of Indian origin who is a permanent resident of Canada, having an Indian passport, and not having acquired Canadian citizenship, is eligible to buy agricultural land in India? If such a person buys land due to ignorance of law, can that mutation be cancelled? — Surinder Gill, Canada A. The Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) Regulations, 2000, provide that a person of Indian origin and resident outside India may acquire immovable property in India other than agricultural property, plantation or a farm house. In view thereof, you are not entitled to buy agricultural land in India. In case the same has been bought in defiance of the above provisions, the contract for sale of agricultural land can be held to be void. This may also lead to the cancellation of the mutation. I would, however, advise you to consult a lawyer as this can involve a litigation.
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Steel mart to be held in Ludhiana INDUSTRIAL body CII will organise a steel mart in Ludhiana in September, providing a plat form to the industrialists of the state to showcase their products. "We will bring buyers from all over the country in the mart to showcase their products and attract buyers," he claims in a report from Jalandhar. He says that the service sector has registered a noticeable growth in the state, which could be evident from the fact that out of total GDP of the state, 39 per cent to showcase their products and attract buyers," he claims.—PTI
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India's top two cities, Delhi and Mumbai, continue to be amongst the ten most expensive office markets of the world in the league of other places like London, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris and Singapore.
Basic bathroom concepts, best bathroom fittings, most suitable chinaware fixtures, bathtubs and showers have been discussed in previous issues. But any information about bathrooms will not be complete unless the following tips are added to the kitty. Here these are: 
If you are keen to construct a house, you need not go anywhere. Your computer can be a great help for you. Just click on
Q. My gross pay is Rs 4,26,861, excluding HRA. My department has provided me government accommodation so it does not pay HRA @ 7.5 pc allowance as payable at Hoshiarpur station. The Punjab Government deducted the HRA @ 5 pc on B.P. + D.P. + I.R. from monthly pay while presenting the bill to treasury and total annual deduction came to Rs.13,001. I want to clarify if this total deduction of HRA made through treasury is deductible from the above gross amount before calculating the income tax as applicable for 2007-08?