Rural villages won’t be urbanised under NAKSHA survey: Govt

Panaji: Amid concerns over the inclusion of rural villages in the ongoing large-scale mapping of urban areas, govt on Saturday clarified that the villages will neither be incorporated into the nearby towns nor classified as urban areas.The directorate of settlement and land records said that rural areas were included in the survey to meet the population and area size criteria set by the Centre to qualify for the aerial survey.“The Goa Escheats, Forfeiture and Bona Vacantia Act and the NAKSHA pilot project are independent of each other, and they are not linked. On social media, it is being circulated that the govt can take over your property if you have no legal heirs, or if you are living abroad, or if the paperwork is not complete,” said North Goa district collector Ankit Yadav.National geospatial knowledge-based land survey of urban habitations (NAKSHA) is a city survey initiative under the Digital India land records modernisation programme. Besides land records, it maps and updates transport infrastructure, utilities, and other civic infrastructure.The survey will cover Panaji, Bambolim, Cujira, Calapor, Durgawadi, Taleigao, Morambi-O-Grande, Renovadi, Murda, Morambi-O-Pequeno, Margao, Aquem, Davorlim, Navelim, Nuvem, Seraulim, Raia, Cuncolim, Veroda, and Ambelim.“There is an apprehension that the rural areas taken up for survey will be converted into urban areas. Then there are NRIs, people who live abroad, who think that after the survey, their vacant or unoccupied property will be taken over. This is a wrong message, and that is why we want to clarify this,” said Chandrakant Shetkar, director of settlement and land records.Govt officials said Margao, Panaji, and Cuncolim will not qualify for aerial survey as their urban areas and population were below the threshold limits.“That is why we had to add the rural areas to the survey to meet the criteria. But these areas are not going to be converted to urban areas,” said Shetkar.He said the NAKSHA survey aims to bring transparency to land records. “This survey will help us reduce land disputes. The benefits of the survey are that it will help us ensure better urban planning. In disasters, it will help with better management. The survey data will help us improve municipal services,” he said.According to authorities, the survey will help prevent encroachment on government, semi-autonomous, and comunidade properties, while also aiding municipalities to increase house tax revenue by identifying structures outside the tax net.