CHANDIGARH: The Lal Dora in the UT’s 24 villages have been digitally demarcated and mapped on the Light Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) maps, making it easier for the administration to check large-scale encroachments and illegal constructions and help formulate comprehensive village development plans.
“The mapping of the Lal Dora on the 3D map involved cross-checking of land records with a filed survey for ground toothing. Thereafter, every point was digitized and mapped for creating a 3D profile. It has been developed by the National Informatics Centre,” said a senior UT official.
For a while, the administration was considering changes in the Lal Dora to accommodate the changed ground realities, as village residents and political parties’ pressure mounted on the issue.
Even the regularisation of illegal constructions outside the Lal Dora was mooted last year in January. But later that year, the administration finally decided to stick with the Lal Dora boundaries and regulations.
With illegal construction mushrooming, particularly after the villages came under the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation in 2019, the UT urban planning department and non-government organizations have been consistently flagging the issue.
The constructions violate the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act, 1952, Punjab and Haryana high court orders on the protection of the Sukhna catchment area and provisions of the Sukhna eco-sensitive zone.
The problem of illegal constructions is so acute that the administration’s plan for a village development plan and land pooling policy has not materialized.
The official said The process of Lal Dora 3D mapping in all villages will help in better regulation of all the laws and regulations regarding it. The officials now at a click of a button can check on different elements related to the Lal Dora on the 3D Lidar map and the actual ground level situation.”
Meanwhile, the administration has also initiated the formulation of cadastral maps (spatial land records) of UT villages, and it has already completed maps for two villages. The cadastral map includes the details of the individual ownership record, roads, agricultural land, and common land. These will be scanned, digitized, and verified, and then integrated with the Bhunaksha application of the central government.
“The cadastral maps help people know all the details of the land records on a geographical map. Many states have already created Bhunaksha apps and web portals for general public access,” said the official.