Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Non-completion of survey has deprived residents of over 180 non-cadastral (NC) villages in the state of their land rights.
Conducted by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, the survey has not been completed primarily due to issues like forest boundary, inter-district border dispute, inter-state border dispute, etc.
Besides proving as an impediment in the granting of land rights to the people residing in these villages, the issue has also highlighted the urgency of resolving border disputes, both inter-district and inter-state.
As per records, Assam has altogether 1,074 NC villages. Out of the 187 NC villages where survey has not been completed, Dhemaji district tops the list with 50 such villages, followed by Kamrup with 45 villages and Cachar with 28 villages.
Other districts in the list includes Nagaon (17), Kamrup Metro (13), Sivasagar (9), Tinsukia (9), Hailakandi (4), Karimganj (3), Lakhimpur (3), Barpeta (2), Biswanath (1), Darrang (1), Goalpara (1), and Golaghat (1).
The state government has prioritised completing survey of NC villages to ensure land rights of the people residing there. But, this looks remote unless the boundary disputes are resolved immediately.
A survey helps in preparing maps of the NC villages, which will then help in their recognition as revenue villages, besides enabling the authorities to issue land pattas to the residents.
Also Read: AASU urges CJP to address indigenous issues, fundamental problems in Assam