Urban land stealing act

And neither will it be in the future. Having studied the act since its inception, for the last 22 years and having written books on it, I think I can say for sure that the intention of the Central Government in this regard is to hoodwink the public. The public does not come into the picture, at all. Of course, the law has failedand should be repealed, but then it should be repealed TOTALLY. Don’t leave the tailend to the state governments to allow them to legalise what they have been doing in the garb of implementing the ULCRA – like in the state of Maharashtra – grab land where the ULCRA does not come into play and exempt it from the law where it deserves to be implemented.

The result of the implementation of this law led to an exploitation to which the state government was party to. Land owners in rural areas – yes, rural areas where the ULCRA does not apply – have been pauperised and some of the biggest builders in the city of Mumbai, own so much land that their next two generations could live off it. They might not be landowners as defined under the law, but through proxies, power of attorneys and MOUs they have been able to control large chunks of land.

Where is the uniform regulation and administration of the Act by the Parliament? By repealing the Act, the Union government is actually running away from itsresponsibilities. It is no longer accountable since by the formulation of the Act on land use, under Article 246, the Union of India alone had the powers and authorities to administer and regulate the provisions of the Act uniformly in the country. That was the main objective of the Act – and not acquisition of land – as has been made out to be.The avowed aim of the Act as mentioned in its preamble was to put a ceiling on vacant land in urban agglomerations, so that urban land was not concentrated in the hands of a few landlords or developers. The other objective was to discourage speculation and profiteering.

None of this was achieved as land was snatched away from farmers and landholders in the areas around Nashik. The clause in the Act used for usurping their land was that it fell in the `peripheral areas of urban agglomerations’. However, these plots were neither in the peripheral areas of `urban agglomerations’ of Nashik, Deolali cantonment or Nashik-Deolali municipalities, nor was the land `urban orurbanisable.’ Nevertheless the land was taken away. The state department played its role when it sent letters to the illiterate landowners saying that their land fell in the ULCR limits. Similarly, agricultural land was seized in the Mira-Bhayander Municipal areas even though the area was not in the list of the urban agglomerations as made out way back in 1976 nor was it an urban area till 1985. Moreover, agricultural land, which does not come into the picture at all, was taken away to construct huge buildings and the state government sat winking at these deals. Ditto in Powai where a huge residential complex has come up.

On the other hand, the state government which did not have the powers (since the Act is an Act of the Parliament), went about exempting land from the ULCRA in the city of Mumbai. On a rough estimate, I think around 90 per cent of the land in the city has been exempted from the ULCRA. Landholders who have in any case numerous laws to contend with, give up their rights through a memorandumof understanding to the developers/ builders who then work on their behalf.

So why does the state government exempt land from the ULCRA? There are many considerations. A fee is one of them. Then again, land if the government were to acquire will have to be paid for. Second, will the state government be able to keep the land free of encroachments? Interestingly, the repealment of the bill now, safeguards the exemptions granted by the state governments. It expressly says that the exemptions cannot be questioned or overturned. Though the objectives of the repealment are to revive the housing industry and provide for accommodation, these were the same reasons put forward when the Act came into place. And we know where we are!With the state governments being given free reign to enact their own laws on the ULCRA lines, don’t be surprised if areas as far flung as Palghar, Alibag and Panvel are marked out as urban areas of Greater Bombay limits and unbridled construction activities are allowed there.

The authoris a senior advocate and has written two books on the subject.