Jamshedpur, Dec. 12 : East Singhbhum deputy commissioner and land settlement officer of Seraikela-Kharsawan district Sunil Kumar Burnwal has set the ball rolling for the land survey of 39 tribal-dominated villages under Kuchai block.

The survey in the block could not be undertaken since 1960 due to strong resistance from Manki Mundas and other traditional tribal chiefs, who look after the local governance in these villages. They feared that the survey teams might manipulate their land records.

Some of the villages under the block are Ichadih, Selaidih, Kadadih, Bandu, Gomagadi, Datanbera, Sursi, Bagdih, Deswapahar, Jojohatu, Rungudih, Punisir, Jamro, Taramana and Bagdih.

Burnwal visited some of the villages, including Dalbhanga, 12 kms away from Kuchai yesterday, and tried to convince the village heads so that the survey work could begin at the earliest.

Burnwal spent about three hours with the villagers explaining the survey work so that whatever doubts they had could be cleared.

Burnwal told The Telegraph that the villagers fear that the survey teams might manipulate their land record rights. He said the survey has become a necessity as similar survey is being undertaken in other blocks except for the 39 villages under Kuchai block. ?In the absence of survey report in Kuchai block, the revenue and land reforms department is facing a problem in compiling a comprehensive report on land-related data of blocks,? said Burnwal.

He hoped that the initiative taken by him would yield results and the survey would start soon. Burnwal said, during his visit to Kuchai block, the villagers told him that no government official had explained to them about the issue.

Notably, during a janata durbar held in Kuchai block in October this year, the Kolhan commissioner had ordered the survey work to start. Officials in the state revenue and land reforms department said Kolhan is the only block in the state where the land survey work has not been conducted since 1960.

Kuchai block, known for cocoon cultivation, was separated from Tamar block in 1954. Several villages under this block have been renamed after the prince of Ratu and Tamar. The officials of state land and revenue department said the first land survey in the block was undertaken in 1901 followed by another survey in 1927.

But the third survey in 1958 had to be abandoned mid-way as villagers protested the survey. Former East Singhbhum deputy commissioner-cum-land settlement officers Sanjay Kumar and Nidhi Khare had also attempted to conduct a survey in the 39-villages. But, their efforts were futile.