Thousands of landowners facing inconvenience
*Decade later, administrative units face staff, infra shortage
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 3: Thousands of landowners in many districts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are facing inconvenience as even after repeated Government directives the missing and dilapidated Mussavis (cadastral maps) have not been reconstructed. Moreover, numerous administrative units, which were created more than a decade back, are still reeling under shortage of manpower and infrastructure.
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In the Circular No. 05-JK(Rev) dated April 4, 2025, the then Secretary to the Government, Revenue Department observed, “Time and again instructions have been given to all Deputy Commissioners for tracing of missing Mussavis and for recreation of dilapidated Mussavis. But during review of digitization of maps, it has been found that some districts have still not digitized the latest Mussavis which are being used in the field and which corresponds to the latest Jamabandi”.
“It is also unclear, how the alienation in such areas is being carried out by field functionaries despite not having maps of such villages. Alienation in such villages is being carried out in violation of Circular No. 08- JK(Rev) of 2022 dated 31.05.2022 issued by the department”, the Revenue Department had further observed.
Accordingly, all the Deputy Commissioners of the Union Territory were directed to ensure recreation of missing/ dilapidated Mussavis within two months, failing which, land alienation in such Revenue villages be stopped forth with.
Further, a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was issued for reconstruction/re-creation of missing, torn-out or dilapidated cadastral maps to ensure uniformity across all districts. The SOP provides for inventory and categorization of missing/damaged Mussavis, constitution of dedicated tracing and reconstruction teams at district and tehsil levels, use of field books, Latha, Aks-Shajra and ground verification for reconstruction and physical verification and certification before finalization.
However, even after the lapse of several months the exercise has not been completed in all respect in several districts of the Union Territory much to the inconvenience of thousands of landowners, official sources told EXCELSIOR, adding “in certain districts, the Deputy Commissioners recently issued directions to the concerned Tehsildars to engage well versed retired Revenue officials on honorarium basis for creation of missing/dilapidated Mussavis/Latha”.
In the Budget Session 2026 of the Legislative Assembly, several Members of Legislative Assembly raised the issue but only status of reconstruction of cadastral maps was revealed by the Government. However, neither the reasons behind not ensuring compliance of the time-frame fixed by the Revenue Department nor any deadline were conveyed to the MLAs.
In one such example, the Government, on the basis of report submitted by the Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, admitted that Latha/Mussavi of several villages in Udhampur like Sira, Pachound and Kaghote are in dilapidated conditions and Tehsildars concerned have recently been directed by the Deputy Commissioner to identify and nominate retired revenue officials for creation of missing/dilapidated cadastral maps.
The Revenue Department further admitted that 5% reconstruction has been completed for Sira and 30% for Kaghote. Similar response was given in respect of many villages in several other districts of the Union Territory.
It is pertinent to mention here that Mussavis, the foundational cadastral maps defining field boundaries, form the backbone of land administration. They are essential for mutation, demarcation, partition, acquisition and settlement proceedings. Any mismatch between Jamabandi entries and ground maps can trigger boundary disputes, litigation and allegations of manipulation.
“By fixing a two-month deadline and linking non-compliance to stoppage of land alienation, the Revenue Department had played its role but the exercise could not be completed in respect of large number of villages mainly because of lack of supervision by the concerned Deputy Commissioners”, sources said, adding “due to delay in reconstruction of missing or dilapidated cadastral maps, thousands of landowners are facing inconvenience as torn-out Mussavis create difficulties in demarcation and issuance of Fards”.
Meanwhile, more than a decade after their creation several administrative units are facing shortage of manpower and infrastructure.
“These units were created in the year 2014 and despite repeated claims by the Government about taking steps to upgrade the infrastructure and manpower in these administrative units, the situation remains contrary”, sources said while disclosing that construction work of buildings for various administrative units is still going on and numerous Tehsils are functional by way of internal adjustment due to pending formal creation of staff.
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