PUNE: The residents of two cooperative housing societies in Balewadi are worried that their access road may be demolished in future as a land surveyor has erroneously placed the said road under private ownership. So much so that the residents have accused the Land Records Office (LRO) of deliberately altering land records to benefit a private landowner, and have demanded an investigation into the matter.
According to the residents, it all started with an employee of the LRO – surveyor V V Kokare – carrying out a boundary-marking exercise without consulting the society members during which, the access road of Amit Emerald Park Society was mistakenly shown as part of a neighbouring private property despite the road having been acquired by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in exchange for Floor Space Index (FSI) compensation. Residents of Amit Emerald Park Society and Celebration Society, who use this road, are now worried that this misrepresentation can lead to the demolition of their buildings in future.
When contacted, Kokare refused to comment on the matter.
The two societies, located in survey number 31/1, were developed after obtaining all the necessary approvals from the PMC in 2007 and 2010. Residents legally purchased the flats, paid government stamp duty, and received occupancy certificates. Land surveys conducted in 2005 and 2010 confirmed their legal standing, and the societies had no disputes regarding land ownership until the recent alteration.
According to society members, tensions arose when the societies filed a petition in the high court (HC) demanding road repairs. Soon after on February 3, 2025, the LRO sent them a letter regarding boundary-marking. The following day, surveyor Kokare visited the site and marked the boundaries arbitrarily, assigning the access road to a private property without recording any objections from the society members. The societies immediately filed complaints, pointing out that the surveyor had incorrectly documented the road, showing it as part of survey number 29 instead of survey number 31/1. This effectively removed the road from the PMC’s jurisdiction, transferring it to a private landowner on paper. Residents of the societies are afraid that if this mistake is not rectified, the private landowner could claim the road, restrict access, and even seek demolition of their buildings, affecting 60 families.
{{/usCountry}}According to society members, tensions arose when the societies filed a petition in the high court (HC) demanding road repairs. Soon after on February 3, 2025, the LRO sent them a letter regarding boundary-marking. The following day, surveyor Kokare visited the site and marked the boundaries arbitrarily, assigning the access road to a private property without recording any objections from the society members. The societies immediately filed complaints, pointing out that the surveyor had incorrectly documented the road, showing it as part of survey number 29 instead of survey number 31/1. This effectively removed the road from the PMC’s jurisdiction, transferring it to a private landowner on paper. Residents of the societies are afraid that if this mistake is not rectified, the private landowner could claim the road, restrict access, and even seek demolition of their buildings, affecting 60 families.
{{/usCountry}}As a pre-emptive measure, society office-bearers have lodged a formal complaint with the LRO, stating that the error was not accidental but part of a larger conspiracy to facilitate land-grabbing. On March 24, Amit Emerald Park Society president Dr Vijay Bhilawade and Celebration Society secretary Santosh Chhajed accused the LRO of aiding and abetting illegal land transfers.
“We insisted that the boundaries marked by surveyor Kokare were incorrect and deliberately manipulated to benefit private interests,” said Bhilawade. According to Chhajed, both societies have demanded that senior officials verify the land measurements before finalising any changes, and have called for an immediate reassessment of the maps using old survey records, Google Maps, and partition documents. “We have also sought an investigation into surveyor Kokare’s actions, suspecting corruption, and urged the settlement commissioner to intervene directly,” Chhajed said.
Since the PMC acquired the road in 2008, residents have been pressing the municipal commissioner to conduct an on-site inspection to ensure that the road remains in the public domain.