Curation Team
BENGALURU: Nearly 1.5 lakh parcels of revenue land, totalling about 14.1 lakh acres across the state, were flagged as encroached —a startling figure revealed by Karnataka‘s Land Beat application in 18 months.
Officials stress that while these parcels have been identified as encroached, the extent may reduce after detailed surveys, since even a small encroachment currently causes an entire parcel to be recorded as encroached.
The app, launched in Feb 2024, empowers village accountants (who previously did similar surveys under the ‘Jamabandi’ system) to geo-fence govt land, capture photos and short videos, and record whether a plot is encroached.
“We wanted to bring back the rigour of the old ‘Jamabandi’ system,” said Rajender Kataria, principal secretary, department of revenue. “Unless land is digitally mapped and visited every few months, we simply don’t know who is sitting on it and why.”
The process has three steps: The first, now nearly complete, involves physical verification and geotagging by village accountants. Over 13.9 lakh of 14.3 lakh identified land parcels have already been visited. In the second stage, survey teams equipped with drones and rovers will assess the exact extent of encroachment. Thereafter, revenue authorities will issue notices and evict encroachers under Section 104 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act.
“The software for steps two and three is being tested,” Kataria said. “Once rolled out, we’ll know not only how many parcels are encroached but also the precise acreage. Eviction will follow in a structured way.
He added: “When we have specific cases where high-value land or a large chunk has been encroached, we directly assign those to the assistant commissioners to carry out action, without waiting for the normal app system.”
He claimed the impact is already visible. In Bengaluru alone, special drives have helped reclaim over Rs 5,000 crore worth of govt land in the past year, with special drives now held twice a month.
The data generated by the app is also being used to create a digital ‘Jamabandi’— a registry updated every three or four months — ensuring sustained monitoring.
With land encroachment a pan-India challenge, Karnataka’s model has drawn attention beyond its borders. Kataria said at least nine states, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, have sent delegations to study the system. The Centre too has nudged states to learn from Karnataka’s experiment, and national e-governance conferences now showcase it as a best practice.
Other govt departments — from forest and irrigation to muzrai and public works — are being roped in to adopt the app for their vast landholdings.
