The Delhi government will survey 683 built-up properties allotted to families who came to the Capital from Pakistan after the 1947 Partition, in an exercise that could clarify the current status of decades-old possession and ownership records across some of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods. The findings will be submitted to the Centre, which will decide the future status of the properties.
The survey follows directions from the Centre and will be conducted using a list prepared by the evacuee property cell of the Delhi government’s Land and Building department. The list records each property’s municipal ward number, property number, occupant and locality. An official said every entry would be verified on the ground.
The field exercise will document the physical condition of each property, who currently lives there and whether the holding has been sold, rebuilt or occupied illegally, officials said. The listed properties are located in areas including Kashmere Gate, Chandni Chowk, Mori Gate, Balli Maran, Frash Khana, Turkman Gate, Pahari Dhiraj, Chitli Qabar, Lal Kuan, Jama Masjid, Churiwalan, Darya Ganj and Nizamuddin.
The list also covers properties in Roshanara Road, Kamla Nagar, Malka Ganj, Sadar Bazar, Karol Bagh, Nabi Karim, Paharganj, Multani Dhanda, Sarai Rohilla and Basti Punjaban. Outside the municipal wards, it includes two properties on Dr Lane in Gole Market and one on Jantar Mantar Road in New Delhi district.
According to officials, families arriving from Pakistan were given possession of houses left behind by people who moved from Delhi to Pakistan after Partition. However, they were not granted ownership rights, creating a legal gap that has persisted for decades. An official said close to 680 families who migrated from Delhi were understood to have left their houses behind, after which the Centre allotted the vacant properties to incoming families.
Officials said the survey would also cover plots allotted to families displaced during Partition. Many beneficiaries subsequently built houses on those plots and continue to live there, while others have sold them. The exercise is expected to record both categories.
The current ground situation may differ substantially from the original government files, officials said. Properties may have changed hands, been subdivided or rebuilt over the years, while the recorded occupant may no longer be the person living there. Establishing these changes will be central to the status report sent to the Centre.
Officials described the exercise as a status check rather than an eviction drive. Its immediate purpose is to create an updated record of the properties allotted after the 1947 displacement, after which the Centre will take a view on their status.
