The government has chosen two villages in Dakshina Kannada under a pilot project for the digital mapping and recording of land records by re-measuring all land holdings in those villages.
The villages chosen are Maroor, near Moodbidri, in Mangalore taluk, and Kodimbady in Puttur taluk.
B.K. Kusumadhara, Deputy Director, Land Records, Dakshina Kannada, said the government had identified two villages in all districts for “creating a new set of digital land records” on a pilot basis. After studying the success of the pilot project, the government plans to take up digital mapping and recording of land holdings in all the villages.
He said the survey (land measurement) would be conducted using the global positioning system (GPS). The old system of using chains for measurement would be discarded. Before applying this technology, the surveyors would visit each land holding and mark the boundaries and roads.
Fragmentation
Mr. Kusumadhara said that after the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1974, came into force, there had been heavy fragmentation of land in all districts. At the same time, topography of many villages changed due to activities related to agriculture and infrastructure-building. Hillocks have disappeared; food crops (like paddy) have been replaced with commercial crops like rubber and arecanut. While re-surveying, the present status of the land would be recorded. For example, if a paddy field had been replaced with rubber cultivation it would be duly noted.
The official said that gram sabhas would be conducted in the two villages before the survey began. The people would be informed in detail about the survey. There was no need for any apprehension about the survey as it would be merely an “updating exercise” of land records using modern technology and recording them in the digital form, Mr. Kusumadhara said. The survey would be not for acquiring land for any development project, he clarified.
He said Maroor village had 1,801 acres with 1,750 RTCs (record of rights, tenancy and crops) and 234 survey numbers, while Kodimbady had 1,496 acres with 1,100 RTCs and 139 survey numbers.
The survey would be outsourced to a private agency. The government was expected to issue a notification on commencing the pilot project soon, he said.
