Registry of plots smaller than one acre under admin scanner

A team of revenue department and municipal officials will scrutinise registration records of plots smaller than one acre, over the last three months, to ensure that the process was done only after a no-objection certificate was issued by the town and country planning department (DTCP), officials of the district administration said on Wednesday.

Deputy commissioner Yash Garg said that registration of small plots should be checked regularly to prevent unauthorised colonies. As per the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, a no-objection certificate (NOC) is required from DTCP for the registration of plots smaller than one acre.

“The team will comprise the district revenue officer, a senior official from MCG and other members who shall check whether NOC has been obtained wherever it is required under Haryana Development and Management of Urban Areas Act. There has been a tendency among property owners to subdivide agricultural land into smaller plots and get these registered so these can be sold as residential plots. A lot of steps have been taken to curb this practice and this is one more step in this direction,” said Garg.

To curb registration of smaller plots and stop registries without NOC from DTCP, the Haryana government banned the registration of properties for almost a month from July 22 last year. It was observed that most of the plots were registered in violation of Section 7A of the Haryana Development Act, 1975. In September 2020, the state government amended the rules and made NOCs mandatory for the registration of plots smaller than one acre, which was earlier kept at two acres.

Garg said that to streamline the registration process, a majority of the process is now online and submission of NOC has been made mandatory. “We are working to ensure that the entire process becomes smooth while violations are brought down,” he said.

Gurugram has 291 revenue estates and land records of a majority of these have been digitized, according to officials of the revenue department.

DTCP officials said they are working in coordination with the district administration to prevent violations. “It has been observed that in many cases, owners obtain NOC first and later carry out subdivision of large plots. Wherever we come to know that application for NOC is bona fide, it is issued within 15 days, but, in case the purpose is illegal plotting, we refuse to issue the same,” said RS Bhath, district town planner (enforcement).