BENGALURU: The revenue department is working overtime to digitise and update all maps of all villages in the state in their records.That is not all. The department is also seeking the help of experts and the government’s opinion on whether to microfilm or laminate all the maps in their records, stored in the survey and settlement head office in Bengaluru.

Survey and settlement commissioner Trilok Chandra told The New Indian Express that so far, 4 crore records till 2015 have been digitised. Now, information on more properties being added or bifurcated are being uploaded digitally. With this, a person can see property details on the Bhoomi app, and the department’s web portal.

The department is updating data by conducting drone surveys of properties. This process was completed in Ramanagara, Tumakuru and Jayanagar. To speed up the process, the department has also approached the government to amend the Karnataka Revenue Act.

The digitised maps include original maps from 1863 and re-survey maps from 1902 to 1950. The department has the maps of 32,525 villages, drawn on 33,891 sheets, stored in their record room.
Most of the them have started to discolour and fade because they are old and not well-maintained. The department has deployed a team of special staffers to take care of the maps. It is the only place in the state where the map of any village or hobli, since 1863, can be found on paper.

To digitise the maps, the department had to scan and redraw the boundaries of most villages and properties as they had started to fade. “There is an urgent need to laminate the maps. These have heritage value and need to be retained. Each map has history. Though the data has been digitised, these are permanent records and they should be preserved,” said another revenue department official.