Oustees not yet complete owners of land they got

More than half a century after the Panshet dam project came up, 3,500 project affected people (PAP) continue to face a problems in ownership of land they got as part of the rehabilitation package.

They were not allowed to sell or mortgage their land for the first 10 years as part of the deal, however, they are yet to get this constraint removed from their seven by twelve extracts.

According to district rehabilitation officer Prashant Shelke, the clause has to be deleted from their property documents to grant these PAP complete ownership of the said land. They had given up their own land for the dam project. PAPS are first given compensation and the government allots a combined area or a gaothan for these persons to re-settle. Here they have to pay a land acquisition amount. "When we allot land we give them ownership under Tenure-II which is conditional. Now our effort is to change it to Tenure-I, which gives them complete ownership," said Shelke.

Pune District Collector Vikas Deshmukh in a recent directive re-allocated powers to the Sub Divisional Officer to change the status of ownership. Drives will be conducted in all the 30 villages given to the 3,500 project-hit people. The camps will check the status of the seven by twelve extracts and delete the Tenure-1 clause and give them complete ownership if they have paid occupancy fee. A drive has been initiated from July 21 from Kergaon and Devulgaon and the remaining villages will be completed soon, says Shelke.

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