Bhubaneswar, April 3: A project to build a road at Brahmeswar Bagh near Ravi Talkies Square has been delayed because of an erroneous survey conducted by the land section of the municipal corporation. The progress has been tardy because government land has been identified as private.

The land section of the corporation deals with issues involving land acquisition, removal of encroachment, engineering work and maintenance. It also provides inputs for deciding on holding tax and disputes in markets.

The land section has just one permanent amin (an official whose job is to measure land) whereas the minimum requirement is 12. But, the sanctioned strength has not been revised since the days when Bhubaneswar was a notified area council in 1952.

“There was one amin for 16.48 square kilometres in 1952. The city has now spread to over 135.78 square kilometres. One permanent amin along with three temporary employees are doing the measurement work of the corporation,” said an official.

“We have 60 wards. If one amin is assigned five wards, there should be 12 amins. But we are making do with four. This is often reflected in the work. Errors are common, as work pressure is tremendous,” said a land section official.

Two months ago, an amin demarcated a plot incorrectly in Laxmisagar and civil construction was delayed.

“We are actually working with one amin as the three other temporary ones were never trained in land measurement. They were working in another department and are helping the amin,” said a councillor on condition of anonymity.

An official of the establishment section of the corporation said more amins were required. “We have been writing to the housing and urban development department to sanction more posts for two years, but there has been no response,” said the official.

Municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra admitted to the staff crunch in the land section.