Village vanishes from MP land records

Times of India: Indore: Sunday, 19 July 2015.

In Shyam Benegal-directed 'Well Done Abba', a well dug by government 'goes missing' from a village. Closer home, Palia Haider, a village in Hatod tehsil of Indore district, has mysteriously 'gone missing' from government land records and maps. Unlike the movie, where villagers file an FIR to 'get the well back', It took an RTI activist to trace the missing village of 400-odd houses, laying bare skullduggery. It emerged from an RTI that officials of registrar office in Indore removed the village from land records to benefit few builders. The act, which sent district administration brass in a tizzy, came just before revision of guideline rate for 2014-15 and the exercise was meant to ensure that the rate did not surge upward. The village is 25 km from Indore city. Before revision of guideline rate for 2014-15, lands of patwari halka no. 41 and khasra number 677/1, 677/5, 677/9 and 678/1 went missing from land records. "Government suffered loss of revenue by way of sale and purchase of the land because of brazen act of unscrupulous elements," said Rajendra K Gupta, who had filed RTI. He said government suffered revenue loss in form of stamp duty and registry fee.

Ramlal Sharma, a resident of the village, said he came to know about it when he had gone to the office to sell his land. "I was surprised to learn that our village, which was there for ages, was no longer there in government land record," Sharma said.

A complaint from Gupta saw a flurry of action, prompting divisional commissioner to order an inquiry. "Land records show that after disappearance of the village, few builders, who were developing colonies and townships, sold hundreds of plots and houses on stamp papers without proper registry," said Rajendra K Gupta, who had filed the RTI. District administration officials said investigation is on to find out staff involved and fix responsibility. Steps are being taken to set right land records, officials said.