The Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights) Act, 2025, provides for maintaining physical land documents from village and mandal offices up to the offices of tahsildars (MROs), revenue divisional officers (RDOs), district collectors and the CCLA at the state-level.
Hyderabad: The state government will restore physical land records at the field level in addition to the online Bhu Bharati system to prevent manipulation of ownership details and resolve land disputes. It has ordered a comprehensive re-survey of all land parcels across the state, with physical records to be prepared based on the latest survey findings. The exercise is expected to be completed in 18 months. The government currently relies on maps prepared during Nizam-era under the Survey and Boundaries Act, 1923, despite generations of changes in land ownership.
Manual maintenance of pahani (land records) was discontinued in 2020 after the previous BRS government introduced the Dharani portal, and all updates were made online. When discrepancies arose, officials referred to old physical records for verification, but updated digital entries were not available in physical form. Officials sources said this gap had been exploited to illegally alter land ownership records in several districts over the last six years.
The Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights) Act, 2025, provides for maintaining physical land documents from village and mandal offices up to the offices of tahsildars (MROs), revenue divisional officers (RDOs), district collectors and the CCLA at the state-level.
Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Friday directed officials to complete the comprehensive re-survey within 18 months, stressing accuracy, speed and continuous monitoring. He said the exercise, being undertaken after nearly 125 years, offered an opportunity to provide a permanent solution to land disputes.
The first phase covers 2,768 villages, including 365 villages without survey maps and 2,240 villages selected at the rate of 70 per district. The survey has been completed in 245 villages, with the government targeting completion of the first phase by the end of November.
Fourteen officials from the revenue and survey departments have been deployed across seven zones to monitor progress and quality. Two survey teams have been formed for each mandal. Tahsildars have been instructed to inspect survey locations daily and report on progress, public response and problems.
A dedicated dashboard in Hyderabad will track village-wise progress, survey teams and the locations of equipment in real time. The minister assured officials that funds would not be a constraint and directed them to procure additional rovers and other equipment. Officials will review progress weekly, while the minister will conduct reviews every 15 days.
The re-survey is expected to clarify boundaries and help resolve disputes involving Section 22A, Wakf, endowment, forest, government and patta lands. It is also expected to facilitate the regularisation of sada bainama transactions.
