Tech-driven land resurvey for enhanced transparency

Visakhapatnam : In a step to create accurate maps while carrying out land resurvey exercises, the Andhra Pradesh government is incorporating advanced technology.

Apparently, it is the first time that such a technology-driven resurvey has been initiated in the country.

In connection with it, drones and rovers are being utilised by the resurvey teams to make the process much easier.

More importantly, technology has been used to digitise land records and curb their tampering and resultantdisputes over boundaries and ownership.

As part of the exercise in Visakhapatnam, 159 villages are located in rural areas. Of them, the resurvey exercise is in progress in 85 hamlets in Bheemunipatnam constituency. With an aim to bring in transparency in the system, District Collector MN Harendhira Prasad gave instructions to carry out the resurvey process without any deviation. In order to ensure that the exercise is being conducted in a smooth manner, the Collector is monitoring the exercise, making field visits at frequent intervals in various villages.

As part of the resurvey endeavour, drone images are captured, covering 200 to 250 acres of land as a block. After surveyor and VRO paying a field visit to the venue, boundaries will be fixed utilising the rover.

The exercise is repeated for each farmer’s land in the village. “Prior notice will be issued to concerned farmers to make sure their boundaries are fixed. By verifying their records, the boundaries are marked by the officials concerned after the field visits,” shares the District Collector with The Hans India. The entire exercise is integrated with the Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) through GPS. This apart, geo-tagging is also being done.

In case of any variation between the records submitted by the farmers and the extent of land they possess, the district collector mentioned that manual measuring of land following traditional methods with tools such as chains and tapes is also considered. Post the resurvey initiative, land records will be free of disputes in villages.