Land Act

To obtain a comprehensive appraisal of Land Act, log on to Indiahousing for the various types of land tenure in existence. While there is an increasing movement to classify land tenures as ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’, the pressure on land creates a multiplicity of tenure systems, which further causes create regulations for control of land use. The growing pace of urbanization needs to be accounted for in terms of the ever expanding metropolis.

Authors define tenure as ‘a diverse facility empowering a person/people/community to state a claim over land or its attachments’. Rights are often a complex set of rules with different users, each tenure form having varying degrees of acceptability within the legal framework. In the urban context, most tenure is either individual based tenure systems or community based tenure systems. Approaches that are used to map tenure systems are: land sub-system, actor based and location based.

The settlement ‘cycle’ of a pavement dweller is used as an example to show how they are recognized by the system as those with claims in an area. Through payment and patronage, pavement dwellers are able to stay in an area despite not possessing valid legal documents. Subsequently, squatters are formed where some set up provision shops, eateries and commercial ventures. Increasing migration creates pressure on land and increases commercial activities in a slum. In the ultimate analysis the displaced are, accommodated within the loopholes of the legal system. Browse Indiahousing Land Act for further details.