MUMBAI, Sept. 10 -- The state urban development department (UDD) has permitted the CEO of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to relax a rule requiring high-rises of 90 metres to have two staircases, allowing certain projects to proceed with a single staircase. Under the earlier rule, buildings up to 70 metres were required to have a staircase at least 1.5 metres wide and an NOC from the chief fire officer. In 2021, when the government increased the permissible height of SRA buildings from 70 metres to 90 metres, it stipulated that such buildings have two staircases. UDD officers told HT that the rule would be relaxed for buildings where 50% of the construction had already been completed. HT has a copy of the UDD's September 8 letter to SRA CEO Mahendra Kalyankar, referring to an earlier request from the SRA seeking an amendment to Regulation 33(10) of the Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) to permit buildings above 70 metres to be constructed with a single staircase. "Permitting buildings having a height of more than 70 metres and up to 90 metres to have a single staircase of a minimum width of 1.5 metres under Regulation 33(10) ... would not be appropriate from the standpoint of public safety," the letter states. "Therefore, such a provision cannot be made applicable as a general rule." However, citing revised provisions incorporated into Regulation 33(9) on July 8, 2021, the UDD said relaxation could be granted on a case-to-case basis. It said proposals approved under earlier regulations, where more than 50% of construction had been completed in accordance with those approvals before the height limit was amended, could be considered for relaxation, taking into account the development already carried out and the hardship involved....