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Using satellite to bring about clarity in land titles
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A new era in land mapping has its positive implications. A look at the possible transformation through technology.
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Cartosat 2A, recently put into orbit, has given new opportunities for maintenance of land records.
Though some time ago it was stated that the Bangalore Metropolitan Regional Development Authority used a satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to draw up the Comprehensive Development Plan 2015 for the city, not many would have gone into the unlimited scope for such technology in updating land records even in remote villages.
Cartosat 2A, recently put into orbit, is intended to beam pictures of our hinterland.
This has given new opportunities for maintenance of land records.
How does the satellite help to keep land records and what business opportunities can it generate?
These questions lead us to some fundamental issues relating to this subject.
The final analysis
Village is our basic survey unit for many purposes. Land records too are primarily kept by village accountants.
A map of the village is the basic document and identification of land is made through survey numbers given to each piece of land owned by a family or individual.
Apart from land, roads, lakes, water fronts and forests are marked on the village map.
Over a period of time, the area of such land and other objects shrink owing to soil erosion, floods and human encroachments.
Surveys and re-surveys have taken place over many years and together with sales and partitions of family properties, the survey numbers have also undergone changes over the years.
What has been done to maintain land records in the modern era?
To be honest, very little. The onus of facts is left to the owners and document writers.
Many sale transactions are registered in sub-registrars’ offices without any verification, a sad commentary on our landed property supervision system.
Yet, there have been isolated efforts by some States to computerise the land records.
The ‘Bhoomi’ project of Karnataka can be cited as an example. One can get a computerised title deed extract from the centralised land record offices at a reasonable fee in a matter of 15-20 minutes.
Digitisation
The effort is to combine satellite pictures of land holdings with field surveys for creating a unified register of property titles.
Land being the single most valuable physical asset in India, proper records relating to it can increase its collateral value, based on which its uses such as levying tax, assessment of eligible bank credit and so on can be properly applied.
The torn/faded maps with the village accountant can be replaced by satellite imagery techniques and the village maps can be reconstituted accordingly.
There is little certainty in land titles owing to the weaknesses in the record/mapping system in India.
Verification of title to land and property offered as security to bank loans is done on the basis of a plethora of documents such as original title deed, record of rights and index of land, tax paid receipts, genealogical family tree and so on.
To top it all, no advocate will give a categorical certificate of title, except in rare cases. Further, because of the confusion in land maps and proper categorisation of land into arid, semi arid or irrigated, the correct pricing is also denied to the seller/mortgager.
The final analysis
All this will be a thing of the past, when the digital depository of all land records is created with the help of the satellite.
The visual representation of one’s landed property will also provide sufficient information to the second- and third-generation descendants of joint families to claim their land or sell it at market rates relating to each type of land/property, pushing up the property market in India to competitive commercial levels to the benefit of all instead of a few smart operators as of now.
The land sharks and those who corner village land under the guise of ‘presumptive’ title will no longer be able to take the rural folk for a ride. What a transformation it would be. And real estate business will boom scientifically.
K. SUKUMARAN
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Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
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