Rooftop Gardens May Soon Be Mandatory For All New Buildings Over 2,000 sq m

The BMC has proposed to make it mandatory for all new buildings with more than 2,000 square meters plot size in Mumbai to plant rooftop gardens as part of its initiative to make up for the lack of green spaces in the city. 

BMC also wants builders to install vertical gardens at construction sites instead of the tin sheets barricading their projects. This is a part of BMC’s new vertical and rooftop/terrace garden policy, as well.

The policy was drafted by the Gardens Department of BMC and municipal commissioner Iqbal Chauhan has asked the Development Plan department of BMC to study the proposal and comment on it. The BMC will soon meet with the builder's associations such as the National Real Estate Development Council and Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry to discuss how the policy can be executed.

Superintendent of Gardens, Jitendra Pardeshi, stated in the draft policy that the conventional method of tree plantation requires huge space which is not possible in Mumbai. So alternate solutions need to be worked out for providing the required green cover to Mumbai. 

Some of the methods like vertical gardening and terrace/rooftop gardening are implemented worldwide. To increase green cover, it is necessary to plan policy guidelines for rooftop/terrace gardening and vertical gardens for the conservation of biodiversity in Mumbai.

The draft policy states that builders have to ensure structural safety and leave enough working space for maintenance of the building while building the terrace/rooftop garden. The stability of the building and the waterproofing should not be compromised. The terrace/rooftop garden should have an irrigation facility installed.

The policy proposes to make it mandatory for all the builders to create a vertical garden during the construction period to reduce air and noise pollution, The draft policy will be finalized after the meeting with the developers and builders association. The policy will make it mandatory for bug projects to provide a podium garden where native trees with shallow or medium-sized roots can be planted.