Ownership Issues: Maharashtra to Bring Land Titling Act By December

Mumbai:  Maharashtra will bring a Land Titling Act by December to provide definitive ownership records for properties and reduce land-related disputes, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Wednesday.

This would make Maharashtra the first state in the country to introduce such legislation, under which property ownership would be made definitive, Bawankule said at a press conference about the modernisation of the revenue department.

"Such a law exists in around 80 countries in the world, but there is currently no such law in any state in India. We are planning to bring the Land Titling Act in December," he said.

At present, documents such as 7/12 extracts, registered sale deeds and municipal or gram panchayat tax records provide evidence of transactions or possession but do not constitute definitive title, he said.

The proposed system will provide a definitive property card containing comprehensive details of a property, including its location, valuation, measurements and ownership. The property card will also carry a QR code through which the complete property data can be accessed, Bawankule said.

The government also plans to introduce a Vertical Property Card system, under which the land share of individual flat owners in a building will be recorded along with details such as the flat's area, dimensions and value.

Efforts were also underway to make land measurement available within 15 days of an application, the minister informed.

Around 500 licensed surveyors have already joined, while the government plans to deploy 100-150 licensed surveyors in each district, he said. They will be trained and equipped with modern technology, including rovers, while drones will also be used for land surveys.

The minister noted that delays and discrepancies in land measurement were a major reason for disputes and litigation relating to properties.

"If legal disputes in the state are to be reduced, we need to provide definitive property cards and Vertical Property Cards," he said, adding that the government aimed to bring down land-related cases to around 10 per cent of the present level over the next three years.

Bawankule said the government was also taking steps to prevent the illegal sale or registration of government land.

Following a recent case in Pune, the registration system was being strengthened so that attempts to register government land would be automatically flagged, he said.

The minister said the revenue department had brought around 104 Cabinet notes over the past one-and-a-half years to change rules and laws and streamline its functioning.

He also announced further modernisation of the revenue and forest departments, including an online system to identify and make alternative land available for development projects requiring forest land.

Such a system would help prevent major projects from being held up for years for want of forest land, Bawankule said.

Under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the government's objective was to make the revenue department "dynamic, transparent and people-oriented", with most services eventually available online, he stated.

Maharashtra has created a district-wise land bank comprising 33,056 hectares of degraded forest land and 7,546 hectares of non-forest land that can be used for compensatory afforestation for infrastructure projects requiring diversion of forest land, the minister said.

The initiative is aimed at making the identification and selection of land for compensatory afforestation faster, transparent and easier, he added.

The state has several major infrastructure projects under implementation, including national and state highways, rail projects, bullet train, Dedicated Freight Corridor, ports and power transmission lines. About 20 per cent of the state's geographical area is under forests, making timely planning for compensatory afforestation important, he said.

The state currently requires around 2,000-3,000 hectares of degraded forest land and 1,000-2,000 hectares of non-forest land every year for compensatory afforestation, Bawankule noted.

Of the 33,056 hectares of degraded forest land identified, 9,002 hectares are in Nashik division, 8,109 hectares in Nagpur, 5,724 hectares in Amravati, 5,330 hectares in Pune, 4,179 hectares in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and 712 hectares in Konkan division, he informed.