Chief Town Planner JMC Manoj Kumar approves commercial site plan on private land in old village Dilli, Ward-55 falling in Khasra No. 970 Min against UBBL-2021 allowing owner equal size stilt floor commercial & three more floors deviating from UBBL -2021 Table 5.2 which permits only G+1 without stilt floor for area falling under 100 to 300 Sqm without CLU from JDA vide SO439 dated Dec 24, 2021 having no mention in approved site plan

Strangely stilt floor commercial was approved in favour of owner but which can be approved in cases where stilt floor parking is provided within the commercial building envelope, the height of the stilt floor should not exceed 2.7 meters below the beam soffit. For commercial sites with an area up 100 to 300 square meters, the ground coverage is limited to 60%, and only ground plus one floor is permitted, with no basements or stilt floor parking allowed. Surprisingly the owner was allowed not only stilt floor commercial but also three more floors which were not at all allowed.
As per approved site plan, Owner was asked to observe front setback -10 ft, when it should have been 16 ft or 11 mtr building line from centre of abutting road keeping in view plot area well below 300 sqmtr as per UBBL Table 5.2, rear-10 ft, side-1, 10 ft were also wrongly quoted once front setback is wrongly allowed. The height of building was fixed as 48 ft 5 inch excluding Mumty and surprisingly not from front road level which is also questionable
Owner was granted FAR as Stilt+3 when it ought to be 180 as per UBBL-2021 Table 5.4 for commercial construction which mandates that area falling from 100 sqm to 300 sqm will be allowed 60% construction , maximum height 14 mtr and shopping permissible on G+1 only and basement shall not be allowed. The area in possession of Sharda Devi absolutely falls under Table 5.4 serial No.2 then how site plan approved by JMC beyond UBBL-2021 Table 5.4 as area Sharda Devi having measuring (252.93 Sqm) and she was entitled shopping permissible on G+1 only and basement shall not be allowed.
GY CORRESPONDENT
JAMMU, MAY 28
`The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has been actively working to regulate constructions in Jammu, ensuring compliance with the Jammu Master Plan 2032 (JMP 2032) and Uniform Building By-Laws 2021 (UBBL 2021). However, since Chief Town Planner Manoj Kumar has taken charge, JMC is approving site plans beyond these regulations to accommodate affluent violators, causing disappointment among those who adhere to the existing guidelines. Favoring affluent violators over compliant citizens, potentially eroding trust in the system.
To put the things in perspective, one Sharda Devi wife of Satish Khajuria with the unfair help of Chief Town Planner JMC Manoj Kumar managed to get approved commercial site plan beyond JMP-2032 and UBBL-2021 from JMC vide No.90/JMC/BS/2024-25 dated 8-5-2024 on a private piece of land measuring 55×49.6 inch (2722.5 Sqft) (252.93 Sqm) in old village Dilli, Ward-55 falling in Khasra No. 970 Min on Jodhamal Public School road, Ambedkar Lane-7 Adarsh Vihar.
Anyhow, according to approved site plan stage-II, the owner was allowed new floor-1 commercial, new floor-2 commercial , new floor-3 commercial all measuring 1382.5 Sqft on existing stilt floor commercial also measuring 1382.5 Sqft as per stage-1st approved site plan in favour of owner which was approved beyond jurisdiction of UBBL-2021 and without JDA certificate for land use change in favour of owner as it has no mention in approved site plan when owner was under obligation to get land use change certificate from JDA vide SO439 dated Dec 24 2021 before applying for approval of commercial site plan from JMC which by the way costs in lacs and so the owner did not apply for land use change certificate from JDA and JMC in its turn didn’t seek land use change certificate from owner and approved site plan in favour of owner.
Strangely stilt floor commercial was approved in favour of owner but which can be approved in cases where stilt floor parking is provided within the commercial building envelope, the height of the stilt floor should not exceed height of 2.4 meters from the finished floor level to the soffit of the beams, and a maximum height of 2.7 meters to the soffit of the slab. This height is measured from the finished floor level. . For commercial sites with an area up to 100 to 300 square meters, the ground coverage is limited to 60%, and only ground plus one floor is permitted, with no basements or stilt floor parking allowed. Surprisingly the owner was allowed not only stilt floor commercial but also three more floors which were not at all allowed. It is intriguing to note that if stilt floor is commercial then where will be public parking as the owner has been given extra floor in case owner construct stilt floor for parking purpose but the owner allowed stilt floor commercial without taking into consideration parking area.
The owner was mandatory to observe setbacks including front-10 ft, when it should have been 16 ft or 11 mtr from centre of front road keeping in view plot area at the site as per UBBL-2021 Table 5.2, rear-10 ft, side-1, 10 ft. The height of building was fixed as 48 ft 5 inch excluding Mumty and surprisingly not from front road level . The site plan was valid for five years from the date of approval of site plan from JMC. The owner accordingly paid commercial building fee worth Rs 117198 for permitted area.
Strangely the FAR was granted as Stilt+3 when it ought to be 180 as per UBBL-2021 Table 5.4 for commercial construction which mandates that area falling from 100 sqm to 300 sqm will be allowed 60% construction , maximum height 14 mtr and shopping permissible on G+1 only and basement shall not be allowed. The area in possession of Sharda Devi absolutely falls under Table 5.4 serial No.2 then how site plan approved by JMC beyond UBBL-2021 Table 5.4 as area Sharda Devi having measuring (252.93 Sqm) and she was entitled shopping permissible on G+1 only and basement shall not be allowed. But JMC out of way approved site plan in favour of owner allowing owner not only stilt floor commercial but also three more floors which were not at all allowed besides owner had not obtained land use change certificate from JDA and it was absolutely wrong to approve site plan in favour of owner without seeking land use change certificate from owner as it has no mention in approved site plan which is categorically written in case owner obtains CLU permission from JDA.
Furthermore , the owner was out of way granted stilt floor commercial which as on date has been granted only for public parking and in no case it should be used for residential or commercial use by applying Table 5.4 but taking area from limit above 300 sqm to 700 sqm by manipulating total area in possession of Sharda Devi which mandates single basement within building envelope shall be allowed as specified in basement norms and wherein stilt floors within the building envelope shall be allowed for parking only. In this way not only out of way site plan approved in favour of owner but also misused UBBL-2021 to allow owner to raise her choice construction against the guidelines of JMP-2032 and UBBL-2021 when at the site the stilt floor is having walls on three sides which doesn’t make it stilt floor .
In light of above, competent authorities at helm of affairs in JMC should enquire from Chief Town Planner how and why such a confusing site plan approved in favour of Sharda Devi and why owner was given benefits beyond UBBL-2021 and how owner was granted commercial stilt floor + 3 more floors keeping in view size of plot which hasn’t been heard of as on date to most of us it has been strictly for public parking but Chief town planner not only misused UBBL-2021 but also approved strange site plan which is nothing short of open permission to raise choice construction to hell with JMP-2032 and UBBL-2021. The Chief Town Planner must give clearance over the valid questions raised over approved site plan in the larger interests of general public