Microfilming,binding,to ensure Delhi’s land records stay intact

“Binding work of land records has started. Rooms have been dedicated in each department’s office to carry out this work and a chief record officer will be assigned in each department for supervision,’’ said a DDA official. All records will be placed chronologically in the new record room.

Attempts will also be made to reconstruct old records which have been destroyed over a period of time. “We will try to get photocopies from property owners if necessary to reconstruct old land records,’’ the official said. Many of the records date back to 1968 and according to DDA,there are over three lakh records in the housing department itself.

“Fumigation and micro-filming of these records will take place. We had sought the help of National Archives for this process and they are providing us with consultation on how to go about binding,indexing and preserving the records. The cost of this project is Rs 100 crore,part of which will be the proposed seven-floor record room building in the Ghazipur Freight Complex. The records will be kept in compactors in the rooms,’’ DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar said. A company will be shortlisted to carry out micro-filming of these records later.

The decision to put all records on a common platform was taken by DDA vice-chairman G S Patnaik. Drawings for the record complex are almost ready,officials added. “Certain suggestions were made to improve upon the drawings,which are being implemented. The building will be a green building,’’ he said.

Presently,records are poorly maintained and many of them may be destroyed forever if not conserved properly. The entire process is likely to take over a year. Once completed,it will also help in making all dealings in DDA more transparent.

The land agency owns over 45% of land in the city and “We need a unified platform where land records can be maintained. Resources of other land-owning agencies like the L&DO can also be tapped into for this,” the DDA official said.

DDA also plans to tie-up with the Delhi government and use GIS technology,whereby mapping of the city — complete with land record as well as utility details,have been put into a city model.

“Reports of details of survey done by the Survey of India for the Delhi government can be used by DDA as well in the streamlining of data,” the official said.