AP Government plans to hold land resurvey

Amaravati: The State government has plans to conduct land resurvey in the State after several decades. The survey would help to solve lakhs of land disputes.

Nearly four lakh complaints are pending with the Revenue Department and huge number of complaints have been lodged at various forums.

The land resurvey would totally settle the problems at field level. Minister for Revenue P Subhash Chandra Bose revealed the government's vision at the Collectors' conference but the shortage of staff may be a challenge to the Revenue Department to implement the plan.

As per sources, the land rights structure was in two-way mode as the Zamindari System and Rythwari system during the British rule. The land survey was conducted in 1908 as per the two-way mode lands system and later resurvey was taken up in 1932.

So far, the successive governments did not conduct land survey completely after the Independence also. Now the land records are not proper though the owners are enjoying the right by obtaining titles. Lakhs of disputes prevailed among landowners and also with various government departments.

According to sources, nearly four lakh applications are pending with the government. The State government included the private lands in government land records list in 2016 as part of government land survey by taking into consideration decades-old records.

Though the owners are producing proper ownership records like registered documents including link documents and passbooks, lakhs of acres of land was wrongly included as government land in the records.

Film actor Sivaji has also raised the issue, but the previous government could not solve the problems though several orders were issued in this regard.

Following the land disputes and problems, presently the State government has announced lands resurvey plan.

Andhra Pradesh Document Writers Association president Tummalapalli Hari Krishna said that the land resurvey plan is a historical decision. The land resurvey would solve disputes permanently, he said.

The status of land documents and physical position would be checked simultaneously in the resurvey procedure, he said.

Former tahsildar K Srinivasa Rao said that a huge number of survey staff is required for this programme and the process is also difficult.

The government would get great mileage as it is a historical programme if resurvey is conducted, he opined. The people of the State would get great relief, he said.