Land survey dept yet to verify boundaries of Adarsh land

The city’s land survey department is yet to verify the boundaries of the contentious land on which the controversial Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society was built.

The city’s land survey department is yet to verify the boundaries of the contentious land on which the controversial Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society was built.

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Deposing before the Adarsh commission, superintendent of the department Sanjay Dhikle claimed that the survey maps of Cuffe Parade, which are with his department, did not mention the boundaries of the land on which the building was constructed.

Interestingly, members of the Adarsh society, in an application to the collector seeking possession receipts, had mentioned four dilapidated walls surrounding the building.

However Dhikle, who was being examined by the commission counsel, Dipan Merchant, said that he would not be able to ascertain whether the walls were present or not.

“We have not verified the boundaries of the land in dispute,” Dhikle said. He claimed that records in the do not show that an officer from his department verified the land in question.

Dhikle also presented before the commission an original survey plan of Cuffe Parade, from 1870-71, which had been corrected up to June 1872.

In another survey plan of 1942-43, Dhikle was also able to point out a kaccha road, called the Prakash Pethe Marg. This road lies in front of Adarsh society. This disclosure is likely to boost the army’s claim over the land, as the state has been saying that the said plot was reclaimed only after 1970.