Protest in Bihar town shows what happens to people when land isn't surveyed

Eight Indian states and two UTs have areas that have not been surveyed by the state government. People living and working on these lands have no land titles and hence no protection from displacement

On May 30, 2021, as India reeled under the second wave of the pandemic, a team of surveyors from Bihar's revenue department landed up in the western town of Chhapra. At a street near the city municipality building, where the state government has proposed a new flyover, the officials measured the land where shops and homes would be demolished to make way for the construction.

About 35 people who live and work in these buildings came out to protest. The government had not offered them any compensation for the loss of land, they argued. But this was unsurveyed land and