NEW DELHI: The Lutyens Bungalow Zone (LBZ) could soon have more houses, higher buildings and basements too if an official proposal under consideration is approved. The government has sought comments from public on the draft guidelines, which propose allowing up to three-storey buildings in place of the single-storey colonial bungalows and more dwelling units on larger plots in this largely green zone of the national capital.The draft also proposes to reduce the total area under LBZ from 28.73 sq km to 23.6 CHANGING DELHI: P 4 sq km by excluding eight residential areas and a couple of commercial districts.Once the proposal is finalized, areas such as Bengali Market, Golf Links, Sardar Patel Marg, Panchsheel Marg and Jorbagh may see new highrises coming up in the near future. This is because such areas would then be covered by the Delhi Master Plan guidelines which provide for up to 300 FAR (floor area ratio)."The biggest reform is to remove the state of freeze that the area has been in for almost three decades. However, we have set restrictions to ensure that the green character of the area is not tampered with. The proposal will empower people to have flexibility in planning and construction. At present, there is no norm for height, and when an existing bungalow is reconstructed, the height and coverage have to be the same as that of the old one," an official said.TOI had on May 19 first reported how there was a proposal for vertical development of up to three floors for bungalows. The freeze on the built-up area in this zone has been in force since 1988. Sources in the urban development ministry said the proposed reduction in area will bring the LBZ close to the original boundary envisaged by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1912."Many of the areas that are proposed to be taken out were included in 2003 when the guidelines were revised.Moreover, almost all of them are now completely transformed, commercialized areas or modern colonies, which don't bear any resemblance to the LBZ character and retaining green areas which were included in LBZ in 1988," said a ministry spokesperson.Inclusion of the Central Ridge behind Rashtrapati Bhawan, Safdarjung Airport, Race Course and areas south-west of Mother Teresa Crescent has been proposed for security reasons. The Supreme Court has also been included in the LBZ after being deleted in 2003.Justifying the changes, Delhi Urban Art Commission, which had been given the task to formulate the proposals, has observed that "freezing development within the LBZ area by not allowing more built-up area than what was there originally is an ideal way of looking at things and not a practical way of changing with times."The Commission has also suggested restricting the height of buildings in order to maintain the skyline, views and silhouette effect.It has also suggested that the government should conserve the bungalows that are in a good condition.The draft guidelines have a provision for change in land use of properties by a "competent authority", which may pave way for more commercial and nonresidential activities in the proposed shrunk LBZ area."But there is also a restriction, how such buildings cannot be more than 32 metres high and have a maximum of six storeys. The three-level basements can be used only for parking so that there is no on-road parking in the vicinity," said an official.While all these years, tweaking any proposal or plan relating to LBZ has not been a very transparent exercise, this time urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu has directed the ministry to seek suggestions and objections from people till October 15 this year.Finally, the proposal will be submitted to the Prime Minister's Office for approval.