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The Uttarakhand government has decided to introduce a law with strict provisions for purchasing land in the state, reports Kautilya Singh. The move comes amid concerns raised recently by CM P S Dhami about ‘land jihad’ – encroachments on state-owned land by way of building religious structures like ‘mazars’ on such land especially in forests. The law will aim to prevent ‘people with dubious backgrounds’ from buying land, officials said. Before any land deal, background of the prospective buyer and the reason will be examined.
Can’t allow a person with foul intentions to buy land: Dhami
The Uttarakhand government will make necessary changes to existing land-related laws and bring an ordinance to tackle the issue of land grabbers who encroach on land by way of building relgious structures, officials said.
CM Dhami told TOI, “Anyone could buy land in Uttarakhand without questioning till now. However, we have now decided to examine the reason for purchasing land and the person’s background before the purchase is made.”
During the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Dhami directed officials to develop a mechanism to prevent encroachers from returning once they have been removed from government land.
The CM said, “We cannot allow a person with foul intentions to purchase land in our state. We will act strictly on the matter.”
State officials have also been instructed to compile and update the details of land owned by various government departments.
Chief secretary SS Sandhu said, “Heads of departments will depute an officer for a certain area and fix accountability on them for ensuring that encroachment is not reported in that particular area. Satellite images would be taken each month to confirm that government land is not encroached upon, which would help in keeping track of far-flung areas.”
Similar curbs were introduced during the Congress government’s 2002-2007 rule in the state when it passed a law restricting non-Uttarakhand residents from buying more than 500 sq metres (2.5 naali in local measurement) of land for residential purposes.
Later, the BJP government, during its rule in 2007-2012, reduced the upper cap to 250 sq m (1.25 naali). Since then, this limit has been set for the purchase of land in the hills by outsiders. If one has to buy more land in the hills and rural pockets, permission would be required from the state and district authorities. However, there is no such restriction in the pockets under the jurisdiction of the municipal bodies.
Sources maintained that the new provisions, which the government is planning to implement, will have no impact on the size of the land being purchased by an outsider. They claimed that the changes would be made ‘to prevent only dubious persons from purchasing property in the Himalayan state.
Can’t allow a person with foul intentions to buy land: Dhami
The Uttarakhand government will make necessary changes to existing land-related laws and bring an ordinance to tackle the issue of land grabbers who encroach on land by way of building relgious structures, officials said.
CM Dhami told TOI, “Anyone could buy land in Uttarakhand without questioning till now. However, we have now decided to examine the reason for purchasing land and the person’s background before the purchase is made.”
During the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Dhami directed officials to develop a mechanism to prevent encroachers from returning once they have been removed from government land.
The CM said, “We cannot allow a person with foul intentions to purchase land in our state. We will act strictly on the matter.”
State officials have also been instructed to compile and update the details of land owned by various government departments.
Chief secretary SS Sandhu said, “Heads of departments will depute an officer for a certain area and fix accountability on them for ensuring that encroachment is not reported in that particular area. Satellite images would be taken each month to confirm that government land is not encroached upon, which would help in keeping track of far-flung areas.”
Similar curbs were introduced during the Congress government’s 2002-2007 rule in the state when it passed a law restricting non-Uttarakhand residents from buying more than 500 sq metres (2.5 naali in local measurement) of land for residential purposes.
Later, the BJP government, during its rule in 2007-2012, reduced the upper cap to 250 sq m (1.25 naali). Since then, this limit has been set for the purchase of land in the hills by outsiders. If one has to buy more land in the hills and rural pockets, permission would be required from the state and district authorities. However, there is no such restriction in the pockets under the jurisdiction of the municipal bodies.
Sources maintained that the new provisions, which the government is planning to implement, will have no impact on the size of the land being purchased by an outsider. They claimed that the changes would be made ‘to prevent only dubious persons from purchasing property in the Himalayan state.
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