Southern Command starts demarcating defence land

In a bid to ward off land sharks,the Southern Command is in the process of identifying and demarcating defence land in prime locations across the city.

In a bid to ward off land sharks,the Southern Command is in the process of identifying and demarcating defence land in prime locations across the city. Defence authorities have alleged that over the years,many military land plots have been changed to favour private individuals owing to the lucrative land costs.

Thus,this process of clear demarcation,better watch and ward arrangements and digitising the land records has been undertaken.

Similar instructions have been issued to all other major cities in the Southern Command,including Mumbai,Chennai,Bangalore and Hyderabad.

The latest case is with regard to 69 acres of defence property at Lohegaon,which officials say is worth Rs 800 crore. Defence officials say it is earmarked as military land in the revenue records. In 2008,a portion of this land was given to the citys municipal corporation for a road-widening project ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games. Thus,the Pune Municipal Corporation had to pay Rs 4.45 crore to the central government.

This gave an indication of the cost of this land,which is worth around Rs 800 crore and since then,parties with vested interests have tried to stake claim over it, said a defence official from the Southern Command.

They have manipulated land records of the Defence Estates Office. Even revenue records that had shown the land as belonging to the military since 1918 have been changed in 2008 in favour of certain individuals.

The Southern Command raised the issue with the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the CBI and presently the case is being investigated for possibility of manipulation of land records, the official said in a statement.

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