Construction ban can hit 5 lakh residential units in Delhi NCR: Report

A construction ban in Delhi-NCR due to high pollution could impact over 500,000 under-construction residential units, a report by Anarock said. According to the report, around one lakh flats in Gurugram alone will be impacted if a construction ban is imposed like last year. The ban could delay project deliveries and also impact rates, the report added.

According to the report, 5.68 lakh residential units are under various stages of construction in Delhi NCR, including Greater Noida West, Yamuna Expressway, New Gurgaon, Noida Expressway, Dwarka Expressway, Central Noida, Sector 150 (Noida), Greater Faridabad, Raj Nagar Extension (Ghaziabad), Sohna Road, and Golf Course Extension Road. These areas together have more than 4 lakh units.

The report said that a construction ban due to air pollution could be a serious setback for these projects as the average completion rate for residential projects in Delhi NCR is between 6-8 years. Prashant Thakur, senior director, and head of research, ANAROCK said, “ Periodic construction bans in response to poor air quality have serious consequences. On average, a one-month ban on all construction activity delays a project by at least 3-4 months.”

According to the guidelines of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), the construction ban on NCR will come into force only when the air quality enters the very poor category. The air quality in Gurugram has been in the good category for the last three days due to heavy rain and high wind speeds.

Parveen Jain, chairman, National Real Estate Development Council, and managing director, Tulip Infrastructure, said that authorities should not summarily ban real estate activity but instead stop external construction activities, allowing plumbing, wiring, tiling, plastering and other activities. “The construction ban should be on activities which produce dust pollution instead of banning all activities. There is a need to ensure that the real estate industry does not get hit while pollution is curbed,” he said.