PUNE: The State Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 373 crore proposal for a drone-based survey of 40,000 village gaothans (the area on the outskirts of villages). For the first time, gaothans are being surveyed for land records. The project which would otherwise have taken 30 years would be completed in 36 months using the drone technology. This is the first-ever effort of its kind in the country.
The pilot project was carried out at Soneri village in Purandar taluka recently. There are 43,000 villages in the State and the survey of land records has already been done in 2,000 villages using traditional method. The State government is now starting drone-based survey in the remaining villages. After the Cabinet’s decision, the government resolution (GR) will be issued, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed with the Survey of India.
The drone flying and processing of images will be done by Survey of India, and the legal procedures will be done by Survey Department. The actual work is expected to start from May 1.
The survey will be carried through 33 units established in each district of the State excluding Mumbai and Mumbai suburbs, as it does not have gaothan area. An official from Settlement Commissionerate of Land Records said the survey will be carried out first in urbanised villages. The survey will be divided into two components, one for procurement of drones and the other being establishment of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). The official said the establishment of CORS will help in accurate measurement of land records.
Accurate information regarding the location is then fed into the drone.
S Chokalingam, Settlement Commissioner of Land Records said, “In each village the procedure will be explained in gramsabha and the villagers will be asked to mark their boundaries using lime powder. While carrying out this exercise, talathi, gramsevak and surveyors will be asked to ensure that no public spaces are encroached upon.”
He added that once the boundaries are marked, GPS reading will be taken with the help of 4 to 8 Ground Control Points (GCPs). GPS reading will be taken with the help of GCPs.
Chokalingam said the image processing will take 15 days after the ground survey. He said the line boundaries will be drawn using the lime powder. He added that this work will be verified with the documents in register 8 - the document carrying details of property tax kept at each grampanchyat before issuing sanads conferring the right of property to a particular person.
