NT Reporter
Panaji
Scores of homeowners in Panaji, Taleigao and adjoining areas who possess only an agreement for sale, but not a registered sale deed, fear they could be excluded from receiving Urban Property (UrPro) Cards under the Centre’s National Geospatial Knowledge-based Survey of Urban Habitations (NAKSHA) project.
The Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR), implementing the project in Goa, has begun ownership verification by issuing more than 6,000 notices to property holders within the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) limits and adjoining Tiswadi villages, including Bambolim, Curca, Calapor, Taleigao, Morambi-O-Grande, Morambi-O-Pequeno, Renovadi and Murda. The exercise aims to create legally verified digital urban land records through drone surveys, Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) technology and GIS-based mapping before Urban Property Cards are issued.
July 27 has been fixed as the deadline for submission of documents at the City Survey Office, Panaji. Applicants have been asked to submit a covering letter, the NAKSHA notice, Form I & XIV or Form D, survey plan, ownership documents such as a sale deed, inventory proceedings, succession deed, gift deed or civil court order, along with identity proof and a passport-size photograph. The absence of an ‘agreement for sale’ from the list of acceptable ownership documents has caused concern among many homeowners. Many residents said they purchased their homes decades ago through registered ‘agreements for sale,’ which was a common practice at the time, but never received registered sale deeds. In several cases, builders have ceased operations or the original landowners cannot be traced.
“My parents purchased this flat nearly 30 years ago. At that time, they executed only an Agreement for Sale, which was the accepted practice. Today, the original owner is untraceable. Even if we want to execute a Sale Deed, we don’t know whom to approach. Besides, arranging lakhs of rupees towards stamp duty and registration is simply beyond our means,” said a Panaji resident, requesting anonymity.
A Taleigao resident said the flat remained in the father’s name, who had abandoned the family years ago. “We possess only the Agreement for Sale. In such a situation, how can we proceed with a Sale Deed? We don’t even know where the original owner is. People like us will be unfairly penalised despite living here for decades,” the resident said.
A senior DSLR official said ownership would be recorded only after verification of valid title documents to establish the claimant’s “rights, title and interest”. The official acknowledged that many genuine
buyers possess only Agreements for Sale but said the department was bound by the prescribed NAKSHA guidelines and could not
issue property cards without the required title documents.
Any relaxation or alternative mechanism, the official said, would have to be decided by the government.
The NAKSHA project is expected to modernise Goa’s urban land records and improve transparency, but many long-time occupants fear they may be left out unless a solution is found for genuine purchasers holding only registered ‘agreements for sale.’
