The long-pending demand of issuing property cards to the property holders of gunthewari areas in the city has been accepted by the state government.
In the latest communication to the town planning section of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation, the state government has asked to initiate measures for issuing the desired document.
Acting on the directives from the government, the civic authorities have approached the revenue department to do the needful together.
As per the official records, Aurangabad has around 118 Gunthewari areas with a minimum of around 40,000 properties.
Many of these property owners were either having 7/12 extracts of their property or notarised agreement showing ownership, putting limitations on the real estate transactions besides putting a curb on availing loan against property.
‘Gunthewari’ is the traditional method used for measuring land and one Guntha land is a plot of around 10m by 10m or 33ft by 33ft. The plots are sold in multiples of a ‘guntha’, this is sometimes referred to as Gunthewari development
Corporator Raju Vaidya, who has been demanding the issue of property cards for the owners of Gunthewari areas, said many properties from the areas have not been registered yet due to the previous regime of rules. “Despite being legitimate owners of their houses, property holders from Gunthewari areas were deprived of property card. The issue was brought to the notice of the chief minister and senior ministers recently, who ordered the desired solution,” he said.
In 2015, BJP-led government in Maharashtra had diluted Gunthewari Act, relaxing the norms of purchase and construction of houses on these properties.
Parts of localities from Pundalik Nagar, Vishranti Nagar, Mukund Nagar, Padegaon, Mitmita, Chikalthana, Harsul and Surewadi among other areas have Gunthewari areas.
Real estate agent Santosh Gaikwad said the property card certifies the real owner of land in an urban area. “Properties from Gunthewari area are prone to a false claim of ownership and the owners are at a risk of facing problems. The property card can help in avoiding legal issues,” he said.
The property card, which is issued by the local civic body, has the name of the land owner and changes in ownership, if any, survey number, plot number and the size of the land among other details.
Suhas Patil, a property owner from Gunthewari area in Pundalik Nagar, said, “The property card must be issued through online to avoid the possible influence of middlemen,” he said.
