Maharashtra plans land survey

Following the dispute over the allotment of land to the Adarsh society, which involved leading politicians, military officials and bureaucrats, the Congress-NCP government has drafted a Rs 1,330-crore plan to resurvey all the plots across Maharashtra and their ownership over the next five years. “It will be the biggest ever exercise in the history of the department. It will take at least five years to complete the study. Once the survey is over, we will create a record of the ownership of each and every piece of land in the state,” a senior revenue department official said. “We will involve the Centre, the surveyor general of India and the department of space science and technology in the exercise.” The officials have decided upon the exercise after the government, during several alleged land scam disputes, was left red-faced as it failed to produce any specific record showing their ownership, which was the bone of contention for the cases. In fact, the last land survey conducted was way back in 1930. “The official records show that the first survey was held between 1830 and 1870, followed by another one between 1880 and 1930. After that, nothing has been done. In several cases, land records are not available and the government is left with no option but to depend on documents produced by a third party,” the revenue department official said. Explaining how they have planned out the exercise, he said that it had been proposed to set up a ground point central network (GPCN). Technocrats will use differential global positioning system (GPS) or aerial photography or a high-resolution satellite imagery system to determine the exact area of a plot. “We will have to set up a state-wide GPC network and also take the help of panchayat raj organizations and civic bodies,” he added. When asked about the high cost estimated for the project, the official said as several agencies would be part of the survey, which would involve physical verification of land records, it has been estimated that Rs 24,000 will be required for work on 1 sq-km area. “The total area to be studied is 3.07 lakh sq km spread over 35 districts and 44,000 villages. Once the survey is completed and ownership of land established, it will also help us reduce the crimes triggered by land disputes,” the official added. In the past, several senior government officials had recommended that a land-ownership survey should be conducted, but the advice has always fallen on deaf ears. However, several neighbouring states, including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, have not only completed the exercise long ago, but have also computerized the records and update them regularly.