J&K Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act, 2010 has laid down that the State Government should frame State Water Policy with the purpose of safety, prevention and restoration of wetlands, marshlands, flood channels as well as lands recorded as “Khads” in the revenue record. This nomenclature of various types of lands is to be found in the revenue records. In Revenue records, various lands are shown as Ghair Mumkin Khads, Darya and Nallah.
In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) titled Balbir Singh Versus State of J&K and Others vide judgment dated February 12, 2016 High Court directed for framing of State Water Policy in terms stated above. As the State Government began to consider framing State Water Policy, it tumbled on a curious situation. It found that the ground situation in regard to khads did not conform to what had been recorded in revenue books. In other words there appeared variance between what was entered in the revenue record and what actually existed on the ground when a survey of the khads was conducted. This created big hurdle in the formulation of State Water Policy. It became necessary to reconcile the record with the ground situation. After due consideration of the issue, the Government has now constituted a committee with the terms of reference that it carries out detailed survey of all the lands recorded as Ghair Mumkin Khads, Darya and Nallah and spelling out the width of the water course(s), channels and natural drainage system for smooth flow of flood water. The Committee has been given two months time to complete the assignment. In February last, when the PIL came up for hearing before the High Court it had ordered that the Government finalize State Water Policy within two months. The Court order was that till framing of State Water Policy, status quo of land situation will remain intact. However, that time frame could not be adhered to owing to the serious difficulty that arose on account of mismatching of revenue record and the ground situation.
Reflecting on the revenue entries of Ghair Mumkin Khads, Darya and Nullah, it is found that these are privately owned by land owners, and a large number of public habitations and important public utilities are already existing on them. Moreover, it was observed that all the Ghair Mumkin Khads, Ghair Mumkin Darya and Ghair Mumkin Nullah recorded as such in the Revenue records don’t form part of any water course, channel or natural drainage system and had wrongly been recorded as such in the revenue records during the previous settlement operations. Consequently, quite different situation has emerged which puts the entire case in different perspective. The so-called khads, recorded ghair mumkin meaning unproductive in the revenue books have become habitats with structures raised by people in their names and owned by them. Public utilities already exist on them. What status is the Revenue Department going to assign to these localities and sights, remains an interesting question. It is in this back ground that among the terms of reference for the committee constituted by the Revenue Department, is that it will spell out the desirable width of the water course(s), channels and drainage system necessary for smooth follow of natural flood water and recommend Khasra wise/area-wise lands recorded as Ghair Mumkin Khads, Ghair Mumkin Darya and Ghair Mumkin Nallah which actually don’t form part of any annual drainage system or water course and are fit for being declared as non-khad lands.
It is expected that the committee conducts field survey and reports the factual situation for the Government to take a final decision that will establish the status whether the identified khads are ghair mumkin or whatever. In this way the nullahs, drainages, canals and water course will be established along with their width and course once for all for facilitating the process of framing State Water Policy. We hope that the committee will begin its work soon and make a comprehensive factual report.
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