Karimnagar:
Residents in the Karimnagar district are facing difficulties due to long delays in land surveys, especially when there are boundary disputes with neighboring landowners. These surveys are crucial during property transfers, but they are taking years to complete after applications are submitted.
Surveyors play an important role in determining land boundaries and measurements. However, there is a shortage of staff at the field level, which has led to a backlog of about 14,200 pending applications in the former Karimnagar district. Of these, 3,700 are in Karimnagar, 3,909 in Jagtial, 2,900 in Rajanna Sircilla, and 3,700 in Peddapalli.
In 2018, around 150 surveyors were recruited and assigned to help with land services, including tahsildar duties. However, many of these surveyors left for other jobs, leaving applicants waiting without much progress on their land surveys.
There are 62 tahsildar offices in the combined district, and ideally, there should be one surveyor per office. Unfortunately, there are only 45 surveyors currently available. Applications submitted through the Mee Seva office are meant to be processed within 45 days, but due to the shortage of surveyors, many applications have been pending for years. When citizens ask about the delays, they are told that the surveyors are busy with government work, and it is unclear when their land disputes will be resolved.
Adding to the delay, surveyors are also involved in a district-wide task force for the protection of tanks. Under the direction of district Collectors, surveyors are focusing on illegal constructions near tanks, which takes up much of their time. This additional responsibility is causing further delays, and some survey applications are getting lost in the process.
In the past, land surveys were done manually using chain survey methods. Now, modern technology like Digital Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) and Lidar surveys are being used. However, despite these advanced tools, the delays in completing surveys have led to criticism from the public.
Srinivas, the Assistant Director of District Land Surveys and Records Management, acknowledged that the shortage of surveyors is the main reason for the delays. He mentioned that if the government takes action to address the shortage, the survey process could speed up. However, senior citizen Sathyaprakash raised concerns about corruption within the department. He claimed that some surveyors are deliberately delaying work unless applicants pay bribes, which speeds up the process for those who can afford it.
