Nowadays people have a desire to invest in residential plots to design and construct their dream home. However, the purchase of a plot may not be followed by the construction work because of different reason. In such cases, when the plot is lying vacant and the owner is living in a different city or unable to keep track of the property, your property can be trespassed or encroached by someone else and you will never get to know about it.

In such a situation, with land being such a valuable commodity especially in metro cities, it is important to protect your plot or land from encroachments.

What is an Encroachment?

It is an act in which a property is interrupted by someone, who doesn’t have any right to that property. An encroachment may be either on a privately owned land or on government land.

The following tips could help you protect your land from encroachments:

• Before you buy a land, do a thorough check on whether the property is registered with DTCP/CMDA or not. Take help from legal expert in this regard. Make sure the land you plan to acquire is free from all hindrances, the person with whom you are executing is the real owner of the land and that all the necessary documents are in place. It is better to acquire a plot where registration records are computerised. This provides a higher level of security for your plot and helps save a ton of trouble, later on.

• Once you purchase the land, confirm that you get all revenue record mutations done in your favour. Also, pay all regulatory expenses like property and water tax etc. to the individual authorities in time.

• Register yourself with the Residents Association/Society of the area where you have purchased the property. This will help you build a good bonding with the residents residing in society. They will more readily warn you if any encroachment is taking place, so that you may take timely action.

• Try to visit your vacant land often and let there not be a huge time gap between your visits. Nowadays there are many reputed concierge services available that can help you monitor your property for payment.

• Cross check that the purchased land is protected by a strong fence or wall. If possible, construct a small house and let out to trustworthy tenants with a legal tenancy agreement.