The government has planned a new land survey to restore the records lost to arson, but lack of budget has prevented implementation.[break]
Without the records, land transactions in the two district have been halted. People face difficulty as they cannot sell, buy or mortgage their land for bank transactions.
According to Ganesh Prasad Bhatt, spokesperson at the Survey Department, the department has expedited the task of rebuilding land records in the two districts and 60 staffers have already been mobilized for the purpose. “Within five years we will have completely restored all the land maps and records in the two districts,” said Bhatta.
The government surmises that it will cost over Rs 400 million to restore the lost documents. The department´s demand for Rs 90 million each fiscal year for five years has already been approved by the Ministry of Finance. Attacks by Maoist rebels at Achham district headquarters Mangalsen and the business hub of Sanphebagar on 16 February, 2002 had resulted in huge loss of life and property and the destruction of all records kept by the survey department in the district.
Similarly, the Maoist rebels destroyed all land related documents and records in attacks on September 8, 2002 and March 3, 2005 at Arghakhachi district headquarter, Sandhikharka.
Generally, a copy of the land maps from all the districts is kept at the Department of Land Information and Archives (DLID). However, due to negligence by staff, there are no such records for the two districts. A new survey has to be done. The government has provided infrastructure for the new land survey in the two districts and land maps for 10 out of 75 VDCs in Achham are already completed.
The Survey Department had sought deployment of 97 technical and support staff to carry out the task but only 30 staffers have been designated so far in each district.
The department has also announced fringe benefits for staff willing to go for the survey in these districts. Staff going to Achham will get an allowance equal to their full salary while staff willing to work in Arghakhachi will receive an allowance equivalent to 75 percent of salary.
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