Many of you will be familiar with our past editor Dhruv Baruah. Dhruv has been following his passion post leaving HHT. He’s recently been spending some time in Uttarakhand and so I felt I should share a recent update from him on things our readers should keep in mind before buying land in Uttarakhand.

From Dhruv –

During my property search in Uttarakhand, I found that there is a lot of ambiguity in the restrictions of how much land you can buy. After meeting several people – landowners, property dealers, advocates and locals here are some pointers that will give you a clearer picture:

Nali: This is how land is measured in Uttarakhand. One nali equals to 2160 square feet.
You can buy 1.25 nali residential land, which means you can buy 2160 + 540 = 2700 square feet residential land.
The thumb rule is you are allowed to buy 1.25 nali on one PAN card. So if you want more land then you can buy along with your spouse or any family member who has a PAN, provided you can show different postal/ contact addresses.

NOW, before you decide on a plot here are some things you should know about buying land in Uttarakhand:

There is land that has not been officially measured. Beware of these. So while you will get a lower price on the land, if the department starts measuring the locality you might be left with a much smaller area than you had bought.
Land in Uttarakhand will either have a beautiful to-die-for Himalayan view or a little sad valley view. So it’s needless to say that a Himalayan view plot will have a higher price tag. If you intend to build a cottage and run your holiday home business, buy a Himalayan view plot.
Water is scarce in the mountains, but then if you have a house or even to build a house you will need water, a lot of water. So make sure that wherever you buy you can take a government water connection. Most locals rely on natural water resources, but these are seasonal. In many places like Mukteshwar, bore wells on the property are no longer allowed. Many places in Uttarakhand still don’t have municipal or local body water supply. So before you decide on a place make sure it has a water connection.
Know your neighbors. Make sure you know who the owners of the plots adjacent to the one you are buying are. The day you bring the patwari (the government official who keeps records regarding the ownership of land) to measure your land, make sure the owners of the plots adjacent to yours are present on the site too. Don’t pay a penny to the seller before the measurement is done.

Last, but most importantly, when in doubt, refer to the Stamps and Registration Department website of Uttarakhand. Everything is online nowadays.