Lal dora areas identified, agri land to be mapped next

Earlier, lal dora areas were exempted from building by-laws/construction laws/scheduled areas etc., which led to a growth of these properties. Also, lack of registration led to conflicts over the demarcation of spaces

Officials of the Haryana government on Saturday said they have completed drone mapping of lal dora (non-agricultural land) villages and the Survey of India will map revenue estates (agricultural land) from August 31. The mapping of the revenue estates is expected to take six months, senior government officials said.

Gurugram included lal dora land under its building bye-laws due to rapid urbanisation of the city. (HT Archive)

Sanjeev Kaushal, additional chief secretary, revenue and disaster management department, Haryana, said that the Central government has given its approval for mapping the revenue estates by the Survey of India. The cost of the work will be borne by the state government, he said.

Lal dora land in every village is generally used for residential purposes, without any revenue record. The term lal dora was first used in 1908 to define basti (population) land of a village that was used only for non-agricultural purposes. To separate lal dora from agricultural land, the revenue department demarcated land around villages as lal dora.

Kaushal said that mapping of lal dora land in 6,329 villages of 22 districts was completed on August 24, with the Survey of India having processed the data of 5,333 villages so far.

According to the revenue department, the mapping of lal dora areas will ensure that properties in these areas get official recognition, for residents to avail of loans from banks on immovable property and villagers being able to buy or sell properties.

Kaushal urged the district deputy commissioners to publicise the registration of properties being done free of cost under the Svamitva [Survey of Villages And Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas] scheme in the villages.

Kaushal said that earlier, lal dora areas were exempted from building by-laws/construction laws/scheduled areas etc., which led to a growth of these properties. Also, lack of registration led to conflicts over the demarcation of spaces. Despite owning a property, there were no papers to establish the ownership of the property and there was no proper demarcation of the land used by the villagers and land owned by the panchayat, due to which public spaces, such as playgrounds, ponds, drains etc, were encroached.