Cuttack, May 8: Police would speed up the landlord-tenant registration process, which has generated a poor response, especially in the city.

So far, a senior official said a little over 3,000 people had submitted declaration forms containing details of the people staying on rent in the city, whereas in Bhubaneswar, nearly 7,000 had already registered with the police.

Moreover, the cops are hopeful that the number of applicants will increase by at least 3,000 to 4,000 in Bhubaneswar by next month.

"Though over 3,000 people have registered with us, the process is on, and we are sure that the number will cross 5,000 in Cuttack and 10,000 in Bhubaneswar," said police commissioner R.P. Sharma.

Many landlords are worried about filing the declaration forms as they suspect the details could be used for property or holding tax assessment by the civic body.

"In the Cuttack Development Authority area, mostly bachelors and students stay on rent, and they frequently change their residence. It is for this reason we have not enrolled in the registration process so far," said Subhranshu Moharana, a house owner at CDA.

Moharana said the police should come up with an online mechanism for updating the records of tenants as manual collection of photographs, identity cards and physical submission of the declaration forms would be a time-consuming process.

The police have decided to go for registration of persons in view of security reasons in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

The order had been issued in April and the last date of registration is June 6.

Sources said the police had also sought the assistance of officials and members of the local puja committees to assist them in preparing a comprehensive database of the tenants in the city.

A landlord has to submit a declaration form containing the name, address, place of employment of the tenant within 10 days of letting his property on rent.

The cops are also contemplating having an online database of landlords and tenants.

"We welcome the decision of the police in preparing a database of those immigrants staying in various parts of the city. This will also help to curb incidents of crimes and other activities to a great extent," said Badambadi resident Dilip Bhattamishra.