Parking floors allowed above ground for multi-storied buildings

Podium floor proposal is a horizontal projection extending beyond the building footprint on one or more sides

Last year’s floods may not have made a dramatic change in ground level storm water drain system but it set the builders thinking of alternative methods to cellar parking. The norm for both residential and commercial buildings is to go deep, dig one, two, three or more basements for parking. Cellars also served as power, internet, telephone and other points and massive inundation of several areas led to major disruption besides vehicles’ breakdown. Pumping out water caused more chaos as sewer lines burst to capacity and overflowed with complaints galore to the municipal authorities. Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India-Hyderabad chapter (CREDAI-Hyd) scoured through the National Building Code (NBC) and parking norms in cities like Mumbai to come forth with ‘Podium’ floors proposal, which is a ‘horizontal projection (platform) extending beyond the building footprint on one or more sides, and may consist of one or more levels’.