Eleven villages in Gurugram district become Lal Dora-free

GURUGRAM: Eleven villages in Gurugram district of Haryana have been declared ‘Lal Dora-free’ as a Survey of India team has completed its survey there, officials said on Friday.

In the second round, a survey and mapping of 49 villages in Sohna Tehsil has been started under a pilot project on land ownership plan in Gurugram district through drones.

Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Amit Khatri gave this information during a videoconference from Chandigarh headquarters to review the drone survey work done to make district villages Lal Dora-free.

“Eleven villages in Sohna Tehsil were taken up under the pilot project to make villages in Gurugram district Lal Dora-free, after completion of drone mapping etc. The people have also been given documents related to ownership of their properties,” Khatri said.

During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal said that District Development and Panchayat Officers have been appointed nodal officers for this task.

To accelerate this work, separate officers will be appointed for survey and mapping work in all tehsil areas after proper training.

Sudhir Rajpal, Principal Secretary, Development and Panchayat Department, asked all Deputy Commissioners to ensure rapid mapping through drone surveys in a phased manner to make villages Lal Dora-free.

According to the Lal Dora system, land ownership depends on mutual consent between the buyers and the sellers. There is no record of land or its ownership in government records under such system, due to which landowners are unable to raise loans.

The system was started in 1908 during the British rule, wherein red lines used to be drawn on maps to mark the boundaries of non-agricultural and agricultural land for the purpose of revenue records.

“Once the villages become Lal Dora-free, people living in such areas will be able to get registries of their houses done and become legal owners of properties on record. They will be able to sell their houses and those purchasing them will also have to get registries done. Owners will also be able to avail of loans against their land,” a spokesperson for the district administration explained.