Land demarcation faces patwari, kanungo wall

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 29

An effort to demarcate the states land after 54 years seems to be facing the patwari and kanungo wall. These officials of the Revenue Department have refused to install boundary stones (burjiyan in local parlance) citing shortage of staff and being overburdened by other works.

The last time land demarcation was done was in 1962. At that time, these boundary stones, sometimes red in colour, were put on four corners of 25 acres, called a ‘marabba.’

However, over the years these stones have disappeared due to extensive farming. As a result, the only way to verify the land is physical demarcation done by the patwaris- which is not very accurate. In many cases one or both the parties who want the demarcation done by the department do not agree leading to disputes.

Official sources said though they were also implementing Total Station —which uses GPS-enabled theodolites (precision equipment with a mounted telescope) for land demarcation for individual owners, it had become important to have not just individual land holdings but also the limit of the villages demarcated.

The department has proposed that if not in marabba, at least the common demarcation of three villages should be done.

The government has also readied a new model for the measurement stone. It will be mounted atop a cement concrete pipe, dug deep into the earth and will be fixed with a wire mesh, so that it cannot be easily removed.

Each of these stones will cost around Rs 4,000 and funding for these will be done by the Rural Development Department. But even as the plan is ready, the Revenue Department has declined to do the needful work.

Mohan Singh Bhedpura, senior vice president of the state Revenue Patwar Union, said each patwari should ideally be incharge of revenue records of 3,000 acres, but there was a shortage of 1,900 patwaris. No recruitments were done since 1982.