The government survey of urban property in the jurisdiction of the Mangalore City Corporation has just begun, according to Deputy Commissioner V. Ponnuraj.
Mr. Ponnuraj told presspersons here on Thursday that the present survey was restricted to non-agricultural properties, such as apartments, residential and commercial buildings, industrial units and vacant sites. The survey envisaged identifying, measuring, mapping, collecting documents from owners, enquiring into titles, fixing and marking boundaries and finally issuing property cards to owners of properties.
“Once the owner is issued a property card, it means that the Government has certified the recipient as the lawful owner or owners of a particular property. The property card will have the photograph of the owner or owners, exact measurement of the land and building, its location and history,” he said. Hitherto, the Government was registering property by collecting the prescribed fee at the time of transfer of property from one owner to another. These property cards would replace the RTC (record of tenancy and crops) document, he said.
The survey is being conducted by a private agency under the supervision of the Department of Land Records.
B.K. Kusumadhara, Deputy Director of Land Records, Mangalore, said that property cards would serve as a legal document under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
Mr. Ponnuraj said that preliminary work for the survey had been completed. Initially, the owner or owners of a particular property would be served a notice from the Urban Property Ownership Record Project Office. The notice will contain details of the seven documents, which the owners are required to produce when surveyors visit their property for taking measurements. The property will be measured and its boundaries marked. The Department of Land Records will look into disputes, if any, and intervene to arrive at a solution. Later, the government authorities will decide on who the owner is. Steps will be taken to set right the records if the owners of properties are not here or if the property has not been transferred to the legal heirs.
After completing the survey, a draft of the properties surveyed will be published and objections called for. Later, the final document will be published and property cards issued.
The process has now begun in Katipalla 3rd Block. “It will soon be taken up in other wards,” Mr. Ponnuraj said.
