A Maharashtra Cabinet decision has opened the way for eligible families displaced by the Surya Dam project to receive updated land records and ownership recognition in Palghar’s Nevale and Hanuman Nagar villages, 56 years after their rehabilitation. The move is also significant because land in the two villages is now being considered for acquisition linked to the Mumbai–Ahmedabad bullet train and the proposed Vadhavan port road and rail corridors.
The Cabinet approved the re-allotment of land in Nevale and Hanuman Nagar during its meeting on Tuesday. Under the decision, individual cases will be reviewed under Section 257 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966. Eligible account holders will receive new 7/12 extracts based on existing allotment orders, revenue records, actual possession, cultivation practices and field-level verification.
The Surya Dam project was constructed between 1970 and 1982 in the then Thane district, resulting in the displacement of residents from 11 villages. Families affected by the project were rehabilitated in Hanuman Nagar and Nevale, where government land was allotted for farming and housing.
However, land records remained unresolved for many of the rehabilitated families. According to the report, of 467 affected farmers and their heirs, 205 had not received 7/12 extracts, village maps, boundary maps or proper compensation for land acquired for the dam. Without land recorded in their names, residents faced difficulties accessing government schemes and suffered financial losses.
The newly approved process will examine each case rather than automatically regularising all claims. Revenue authorities will consider the available allotment documents, existing records, possession and cultivation, along with the results of field verification, before updating the names of eligible account holders.
The issue has gained additional urgency because land currently occupied and cultivated by families in both villages is being considered for acquisition for major transport and logistics infrastructure. The report states that acquisition procedures have begun for routes connected to the bullet train project and the Vadhavan port road and rail links.
The absence of recognised land ownership had raised the possibility that affected families could be excluded from compensation if their names did not appear in official records. Updated 7/12 extracts would provide the revenue documentation needed to establish eligible claims, although the Cabinet decision itself sets out a case-by-case review rather than a blanket compensation order.
The next step is for the relevant authorities to conduct the prescribed reviews, verify possession and cultivation on the ground, and prepare updated land records for eligible families in Nevale and Hanuman Nagar.
