Concered by the implications of the frenzied construction along the Senapati Bapat Marg in Lower Parel, the state environment committee has decided to reject environmental clearance (EC) to major construction projects there by the Indiabulls group until the group curtails the size of the projects. The State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) pointed out that the projects by the realty major at Jupiter and Elphinstone Mills of Lower Parel had been sanctioned a staggering FSI of 12. The two mills are among the five National Textile Corporation (NTC) mill plots, which were sold at record prices in 2005, propelling the subsequent price rise in Mumbai. Just two months ago, the SEAC had directed the state environment department to issue a stop-work notice to DB Realty’s Orchid Crown project in Prabhadevi for carrying out work without environment nod. The project, also constructed using extra FSI for parking, had consumed a total FSI of 15 as per the SEAC. This is the second time that the SEAC has decided to reject the EC for these Indiabulls projects. Last year, too, the committee had shot down the projects and asked Indiabulls to make changes, but later said the firm had not complied with its directive. The Indiabulls projects at Jupiter Mills include the over 60-storey luxury residential towers, Indiabulls Sky and Indiabulls Forest, and the two commercial towers of One Indiabulls Center. The Elphinstone Mills houses the three commercial towers of Indiabulls Finance Centre and the residential skyscraper Sky Suites. The SEAC has pulled up the developer for violating the Environment Protection Act by completing construction of the commercial buildings without taking prior EC as required under law. In the minutes of the SEAC’s last meeting, the project has been criticised for its “unacceptably dense construction...very high ground coverage of 79 per cent, inadequate recreation ground areas and parking of very large number of vehicles (3,799 car parks)...posing a serious threat to the environment in the already congested location in the island city”. “The committee has made it amply clear that the project cannot be allowed an EC unless they reduce the proposed construction area. Indiabulls has been citing the permissions they have from the BMC and other agencies to justify their case, but the project is not at all environmentally sustainable. It is now for Indiabulls and the local planning authority to decide their course of action,” a SEAC member said. While the standard FSI for the island city is 1.33, additional FSI was sanctioned to the two projects under various amendments to the Development Control Rules (DCR) that grant additional FSI for generating public parking, for IT park and ornamental FSI. Government sources point out that the commercial towers on the two mill plots were built using the extra FSI under the IT park policy; the policy was later amended by the state government to allow IT complexes to be used almost entirely for commercial office space. Under the parking FSI policy, developers who construct public parking space on their plot get extra FSI of up to 50 per cent of the built-up area of the public parking. The SEAC notes that while usually the area of per car park is 30-35 sq m, in this case Indiabulls has built an area of 80 sq m per car park. Moreover, the SEAC has raised concerns about traffic hazard on the roads each time large number of cars enter and exit the complex. Indiabulls, however, said they are still in the process of getting the EC. “We are going through the process of getting environment permissions. The process has been substantially delayed due to the non-existence of the environment committee in the state for more than seven months. We expect to get through the process in the next few months,” Vipul Bansal, CEO of Indiabulls Real Estate.