The norms prescribed in the zonal regulations of the Revised Master Plan (RMP)-2015 will prevail over the norms stipulated in the building bylaw 2003 of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for construction of balconies in buildings, said the High Court of Karnataka.
Hence, the BBMP would be required to permit the construction of a balcony in accordance with regulation 3.11(iv) of the RMP-2015 without restricting the length of the balconies as has been limited under bylaw 14.3 of its building bylaw, the court said.
Floor area of balconies
The court made it clear that the floor area of the balconies will have to be taken into consideration while calculating Floor Area Ratio (FAR) as per the regulation of the RMP-2015 even though the BBMP bylaw excludes area of balcony from being included in the FAR.
Justice N.S. Sanjay Gowda passed the order while disposing of separate petitions filed by city-based structural engineer Vineet Nair and M/s Felicity Adobe LLP, Bengaluru.
The petitioners had sought a direction for alignment of the BBMP’s building bylaw in accordance with the provisions of the RMP-2015, framed under the provisions of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning (KTCP) Act while pointing out conflicts in norms on construction of balcony in buildings.
Orderly development
“…the KTCP Act contemplates that preparation of a master plan which is ultimately designed for orderly development, and the Act envisages providing for a detailed manner in which a planning area is required to be developed and the development within a planning area to be regulated. It is, therefore, obvious that the Regulations made under the KTCP Act would prevail over the building bylaw which, in essence, mirror the regulations and are framed so as to be in conformity with the zonal regulations,” the court observed.
Published – March 17, 2025 10:13 pm IST
