Theodolite (Total Station) machines are the new mantra for accurate demarcation of land in the Punjab.These machines introduced by the Revenue Department are the answer to the hassle-free demarcation of land. It accurately measures the boundaries and is the perfect answer to land disputes.To prevent the farmers from indulging in dispute, the Director Land Records (DLR) has purchased eight Total Station machines.The Revenue Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria said the Theodolite (Total Station) machines have led to the settlement of several cases related to the complexity of land boundaries. These machines have been put in service in SAS Nagar (Mohali), Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana districts. It may be recalled that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered that the revenue record of Talwara (Hoshiarpur) be put in order. So, the remaining three machines have been pressed in service at Talwara.The Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner Revenue Mr. M.P. Singh said 179 cases had been resolved with the use of these machines till October 10, 2018. These machines have been used in Patiala (72 cases), Ludhiana (37), Amritsar (8), Jalandhar (57), SAS Nagar (5 cases).
He said that at the time of settlement and consolidation the pillars (Sehada/Burzi) had been set up on land as the boundary stones. But these pillars have been damaged or dislocated with the time. But the Total Station machines can create a satellite record (Land Coordinate) of the boundaries and demarcation pillars.Mr. M.P. Singh said that earlier in the complex demarcation cases the department had to take services of private companies owning these machines, which used to charge very hefty amount because of their monopoly. But as the Punjab Government has purchased these machines and now the machines are readily available for the service of the people of state.He said earlier most of the time, the people didn’t agree with the demarcation done by the revenue staff. As there is very nominal fee for demarcation they repeatedly submit applications for the same Nishandehi (Demarcation). Sometimes a single Nishandehi takes a whole day of the revenue staff to get finalized and even after that there is no guarantee that all the parties involved will finally agree to the demarcation. But now these machines will put an end to this practice.The ACS-cum-FCR said it is expected that with the passage of time and experience gained more such cases would be decided with the use of the machines. More and more staff of the Revenue department be trained to use these machines and number of the machines would also be increased.