May 28, 2018

The suburban collector’s decision is in line with the state government’s plan to scrap 7/12 extracts in all urban areas of Maharashtra, where every plot now has a city survey number

MUMBAI: The suburban Mumbai collector’s office has decided to scrap the iconic 7/12 extract, a crucial document for any landowner. Popularly known in Marathi as ‘Saat Baara Utara’, the document was introduced in the early 20th century and gives information like the name of a plot’s owner, its area and its cultivator—it is thus a record of agricultural land. The suburban collector’s decision is in line with the state government’s plan to scrap 7/12 extracts in all urban areas of Maharashtra, where every plot now has a city survey number.

Suburban collector Sachin Kurve told TOI there are currently 87,000 Saat Baara Utara records between Bandra and Dahisar and from Kurla to Mulund. Of these, 58,000 have been done away with after tallying them with the property cards of landowners. Kurve said that since most agricultural plots in Mumbai were converted for non-agricultural purpose decades ago, it does not make sense to continue with the 7/12 document anymore. At the beginning of the last century, much of the land in Mumbai’s suburbs was used for cultivation and thus the prevalence of Saat Baara Utaras, meant only for agriculture land.

Kurve said that for long, a land owner in Mumbai had to produce both property card as well as the 7/12 document. “Only a property card to prove land ownership in urban areas should suffice,” said Kurve.

“The document must tally with the city survey number of the land. If there are discrepancies, then we cannot scrap the 7/12 extract.”

Mariam Dossal, city historian and author of the book `Theatre of Conflict, City of Hope’, said, “The property registration form 7/12, I surmise, recorded agricultural land holdings on Salsette Island (the island on which Mumbai, Mira-Bhayander and part of Thane lie), which over time after 1914 were converted into urban settlements under the Salsette Town Planning Scheme. It may be that the ‘Saat Baara’ was also used to record holdings on parts of coconut plantations and rice fields that existed in Mahim, Matunga, Dadar and Worli and the northern sections of Bombay island, which existed well into the mid-twentieth century. It is worth investigating further.”

Retired bureaucrat Dev Mehta, who was once Mumbai metropolitan commissioner, said the 7/12 extract is like “God” for landowners. “In popular Marathi Lavani songs, the protagonist asks the man to prove if he is rich or poor by showing his Saat Baara,” said Mehta.

In the 1970s, Mehta said, the state introduced the ‘Khate Pustika’, a substitute land record document for the 7/12. “But the Saat Baara was not abolished then. It is pointless to have both a property card and the 7/12 extract in urban areas. Scrapping 7/12 is a good move by the government.”

IAS officer Shekhar Gaikwad, who has done extensive studies on land records, said it was FGH Anderson (commissioner of settlements and land records), who streamlined and created a system to collect land revenue in villages in Maharashtra. “Form 7 pertains to the title of the property and form 12 contains details of the cultivation and crops grown on the land,” he explained. “Saat Baara has become an inseparable part of the life of an agriculturalist. Any mention of 7/12 creates an emotion of scare as well as suspicion in the minds of farmers mainly because of his attachment to the land. Therefore, 7/12 is rightly called a mirror of land.”

Share This:

Read all Thane Real Estate Latest News

 

To Know About Property Investment In Thane Contact Us at 022 2580 6868

Source: realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com