Delhi government to survey over 680 properties allotted to Partition-era evacuee

The Delhi government is set to begin a survey of more than 680 built-up properties in the Capital that were handed to families arriving from Pakistan after the India-Pakistan Partition in 1947, with the findings to be submitted to the Centre for a decision on the future of these holdings, The Indian Express has learnt.

The exercise follows directions from the Centre and will be carried out on the basis of a list prepared by the Land and Building department’s evacuee property cell of the Delhi government.

The list of built-up evacuee properties in different municipal wards of Delhi runs to 683 numbered entries and identifies, property by property, the municipal ward number, the property number, the name of the occupant and the locality. Each entry is to be verified on the ground, an official said.

The official also said the survey will record the condition of the property, who currently resides in it, whether it has been sold, rebuilt, or is illegally occupied.

The properties fall in some of the oldest and most densely built parts of the walled city and its extensions. The areas named include Kashmere Gate, Chandni Chowk, Mori Gate, Balli Maran, Frash Khana, Turkman Gate, Pahari Dhiraj, Chitli Qabar, Pahari Bhojla, Lal Kuan, Jama Masjid, Churiwalan, Darya Ganj, Nizamuddin, Roshanara Road, Kamla Nagar, Malka Ganj, Sadar Bazar, Karol Bagh, Nabi Karim, Paharganj, Multani Dhanda, Sarai Rohilla and Basti Punjaban.

The list also extends beyond the municipal wards to two properties at Dr Lane in Gole Market, and one at Jantar Mantar Road in New Delhi district.

“After the Partition, a large number of people left Delhi for Pakistan, while families arriving from the other side settled in the city. Close to 680 families who migrated from Delhi are understood to have left their houses behind, and the then Centre had allotted those vacant houses to families that had come from Pakistan,” an official said.

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Officials said these families were given possession but not ownership rights creating a critical legal gap that the survey now seeks to establish the consequences of, decades on.

“Thousands of people who crossed over at the time were also allotted plots. Many of those families have since built houses on them and continue to live there, while several others have sold the plots,” the official said.

“The survey is expected to capture both categories. Where a property has changed hands, been subdivided or rebuilt, the record on the ground is likely to diverge sharply from the one in the file,” the official added.

Officials also said that the findings will be compiled and sent to the Centre, which will then take a view on the status of the properties. “The survey is being positioned as a status check rather than an eviction exercise, with the immediate purpose being to establish a current record of the 1947 allotments,” the official said.

Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security. Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat. During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More

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