The Maharashtra government has taken a significant step toward urban development by amending the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966. Through a Government Resolution (GR) dated April 22, 2026, the Revenue and Forest Department has issued formal guidelines to field officers following the passage of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (Amendment) Act, 2026, which received the Governor’s assent and was published in the State Gazette on March 25, 2026.
What Is Gairan Land?
Gairan land refers to village common grazing land — pasture traditionally reserved for the free use of village cattle under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966. These lands were historically off-limits for any alternative use. Over decades, however, rapid urbanisation has brought large tracts of such land within the jurisdictions of Municipal Corporations and Municipal Councils, where they have often remained in legal limbo — neither actively used for grazing nor formally available for civic development.
The Key Change
The amendment inserts a new Sub-section (8) into Section 22A of the Code. In plain terms, it allows Gairan land located within a Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council area — where a final Development Plan has already been notified under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 — to be used for the specific purposes designated for it in that Development Plan. Crucially, this can only happen with prior permission from the State Government.
Why This Amendment Was Needed
The move has been in the making for years. The Supreme Court, in Civil Appeal No. 1132/2011 (Jagpal Singh & Others vs. State of Punjab & Others), had flagged concerns about misuse of common grazing lands across India. Following those observations, Maharashtra issued guidelines in 2011 and amended Section 22A in 2017. More recently, the Bombay High Court’s observations in Writ Petition No. 3098/2021 (Santosh Madhukar Bhondve vs. State of Maharashtra) on September 12, 2024 brought renewed urgency. The 2026 amendment is the government’s legislative response — designed to provide a legal framework to utilise these urban pockets of Gairan land productively and in a planned manner.
What the GR Directs Field Officers to Do
The GR lays down four clear instructions for revenue officials across the state:
First, Gairan lands within Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council limits that are included in a final Development Plan are now eligible for use as per that plan. Second, such lands can only be put to the specific purpose for which they are reserved in the Development Plan — whether that be a school, road, garden, or housing — and no other. Third, prior State Government approval is mandatory before any such land is put to use. Fourth, once approval is granted, the District Collector must update the land records: the “Gairan” entry must be removed and the new designated purpose must be formally recorded.
Scale of the Issue
The amendment is significant given the sheer scale of Gairan land locked in legal uncertainty. According to an affidavit filed by the Maharashtra government before the Bombay High Court in 2022, there are over 2,22,153 illegal constructions on Gairan lands across the state, encroaching upon approximately 10,089 hectares. Separately, the state had identified 7,700 hectares of grazing land for potential diversion for public infrastructure projects statewide. Mumbai-specific figures, however, are not publicly disclosed and would require an RTI query to the relevant Collector’s office.
What It Means in Practice
For cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, and other Municipal Corporation areas, this amendment effectively creates a lawful pathway to develop land parcels that were previously stuck between their village-era classification and modern urban needs. A plot classified as Gairan but reserved for a public garden in the Development Plan, for instance, can now legally be developed as one — provided the State Government gives the nod.
Urban planners and civic bodies are expected to identify such parcels and initiate the approval process. Legal experts note, however, that the requirement of prior State Government permission adds an important safeguard against arbitrary diversion of these commons.
