Hyderabad: Erroneous revenue records are giving scope for land scams, with the state government not conducting a comprehensive land survey for three years though the Centre has offered to bear some part of the expenditure. The land records available with government are based on a survey done in the 1930s.
Officials identified 42 lakh errors in land records in April last year when they verified manual records with computerised data in five categories — typographical, survey numbers, extent of land, registered in great grand parents’ name and wrong land mutation.
It has become easy for land grabbers to encroach on lands in the absence of updated records. They lure revenue officials with bribes for registration of such land parcels.
Some retired revenue officials, right from the village to state level, who are conservant with the shortcomings in the data, helping land grabbers to identify such land parcels and get them registered on their names or those of their associates.
Owners are forced to ‘settle’ the issue with land grabbers by accepting whatever amount is offered by them.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had announced that the government wold take up a comprehensive land survey soon after assuming office in June 2014. There has been no action on that front.
The revenue department estimated that it requires Rs 260 crore for the survey. The state government sought the Centre's assistance, which agreed to bear 50 per cent of the cost. The matter rests there. In Hyderabad, the last survey was conducted between 1960 and 1975.
Deputy Chief Minister and revenue minister Mohd Mahmood Ali said the delay was on account of lack of surveyors. “We have recruited 2,000 surveyors and we need for another 3,000 to take up the survey. We will launch the survey soon and aim to complete it by 2018-end. Updation and correction of revenue records is the only solution to check irregularities,” Mr Ali said.
