Uttarakhand to toughen land laws

There is bad news for property dealers and builders in Uttarakhand.

Amid reports that land prices in Dehra Dun and other areas have shot up considerably, the state government has announced that it will toughen laws on purchase of revenue land either by amending the present laws or introducing a Bill in this regard.

For this, the government will set up a committee of experts to study land laws in Himachal and north-eastern states.

The move comes at a time when builders are making a beeline for Uttarakhand to buy revenue land in bulk.

"A major chunk of the revenue land has fallen into the hands of land mafia or criminal elements. We will bring new laws that it will make it difficult for such elements to grab the land in future," said Revenue Minister Diwakar Bhat.

Bhat admitted that the government was aware that present laws were not stringent enough to check steep appreciation in land prices.

The government plans to reduce considerably the limit on the purchase of revenue land in the state from 500 square metres.

"At present, an individual can buy not more that 500 square metres revenue land in the state. But we found that one does not need more than 200 square metres of land for constructing a house. Hence, we will bring down this limit to a sufficiently low level," Bhat said.

The former Congress government had enacted the Uttarakhand Land Reforms Act, 2003, in what it described as its effort to free the stranglehold of the mafia over government land, a move that instantly came under fire from a section of people in the state.

When asked whether previous laws were not sufficient as far as revenue land was concerned, Bhat said his only concern was to safeguard the government land for the future. "I do not want to discuss what happened in the past," Bhat said.