Bihar Land Survey: The Bihar government is considering taking over land worth about Rs 7,960 crore belonging to the estate of Bettiah Raj, the largest zamindari in the state, a large part of which has been encroached upon. An officer gave this information. The senior official said that this exercise is being done to ensure effective protection and management of about 15,358 acres of land. Most of this land is in East and West Champaran districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Presently this property is managed by the 'Court of Wards' of the Revenue Board of Bihar Government.
Meanwhile, Revenue Board Chairman-cum-Member K. Of. “The state government is considering taking over the entire property of Bettiah Raj and a bill (in this regard) will be passed in December 2024,” Pathak had said in an order passed in October in connection with a case related to a plot of land in West Champaran. “, is likely to be introduced in the next session of the Legislature.
'The entire property will come to the Land Reforms Department'
According to data compiled by the Revenue Board till December 13 last year, which is available to PTI, 6,505 acres (about 66 per cent) of the total land of 'Bettiah Estate' in West Champaran district has been encroached upon. On the other hand, in East Champaran, 3,219 acres or about 60 percent of the land has been encroached upon.
“Once the bill is passed, the entire property will come under the control of the state revenue and land reforms department,” the official said. Bihar government has already started the process of removing encroachment. This will be further expedited.'' According to the office of 'Court of Wards', the value of the land property of Bettiah Raj is Rs 7,957.38 crore. Out of the total 15,358.60 acres of land, 15,215.33 acres are in Bihar and 143.26 acres are in Uttar Pradesh.
there is encroachment on the land
According to officials, a large part of the land of the erstwhile Bettiah Raj has been encroached upon over the years. Land survey is underway in Bihar and the state government has directed officials to mark the land of Bettiah Raj and free it from encroachment. Bihar government is conducting a special land survey to update the land records in the state.
The last king died in 1893
Harendra Kishore Singh, the last king of Bettiah Raj, died on 26 March 1893. He had no successor. Raja Harendra Kishore Singh had two wives – Maharani Shiv Ratna Kunwar and Maharani Janaki Kunwar.
His first wife Shiv Ratna Kunwar died in 1896. It was reportedly found that Maharani Janaki Kunwar was not capable of managing the property, so it was managed by the 'Court of Wards'. Maharani Janaki Kunwar died in 1954. Apart from East and West Champaran districts, Bettiah Raj's lands also extended to Gopalganj, Siwan, Patna and Saran districts of Bihar.
