Roque Dias
Margao
Six months after issuing its initial notice, the state government has published a second notice in local dailies on July 2, calling upon all property owners and stakeholders within the municipal jurisdictions of Margao and Cuncolim to establish their legal rights, title and interest in their properties.
The Department of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR) issued the notice after completing extensive ground-truthing work, a
key component of the state’s ambitious NAKSHA Pilot Project. This phase was
officially completed earlier this year.
The DSLR’s first public notice, issued on January 2, announced the launch of a survey across selected urban areas of the state. Survey inspectors were tasked with measuring houses, assessing properties and collecting related data. However, the notice did not explicitly state the purpose of the survey. The omission triggered public anger and fuelled widespread debate, with many citizens expressing concerns that the government was attempting to encroach on their privacy.
According to the latest notice, the Inquiry Officer of the DSLR, Margao,
will conduct an inquiry under Sections 14 and 85 of the Goa Land Revenue Code, 1968, from July 16 to August 14. Property owners have been directed to personally visit the designated survey office in Margao during this period with all relevant original ownership documents, including title deeds, sale deeds, succession deeds and previous land survey records,
for verification.
The NAKSHA project covers three Urban Local Bodies (ULBs): Panaji and the surrounding villages of Bambolim, Cujira, Calapor, Durgawaddo, Taleigao, Morambi, O Grande and Pequeno, Renovadi and Murda; Margao and the neighbouring areas of Aquem, Davorlim, Navelim, Nuvem, Seraulim and Raia; and Cuncolim along with the villages of Veroda and Ambelim.
“The primary objective of this government-led inquiry is to formally verify and establish undisputed land ownership,” a DSLR official said.
The official said the exercise aims to legally define individual and corporate rights over surveyed lands, thereby ensuring more transparent land records and reducing future property disputes in the two municipal areas.
While the DSLR has urged all landholders, joint owners and persons with any interest in properties within the Margao and Cuncolim municipal limits to participate in the exercise to ensure accurate registration and protection under the new NAKSHA framework, many landowners remain sceptical. They believe the initiative is intended to enable the government to take over privately owned land rather than protect landowners’ interests.
A prominent landowner in Margao alleged, “The state government has initiated nefarious exercises and surveys concerning land with the sole intent of grabbing it, given Goa’s status as the ‘jewel in the Indian crown’.”
Some landowners in Margao also questioned why the NAKSHA Pilot Project had not been introduced in Valpoi, Sattari and Sanquelim and their surrounding areas, and why two municipalities in Salcete had been selected.
However, official sources said the Centre had selected 150 cities across the country under the National Geospatial Knowledge-Based Land Survey of Urban Habitation (NAKSHA) City Survey Programme, and Goa’s three urban areas were chosen as part of the pilot project.
