A GIS Based Approach to Enhance The Land Registration ProcessAshish Arora RMSI, A-7, Sector 16 Noida 201 301, UP, India Tel: +91 120 251 1102 Fax: +91 120 251 0963 ashish.arora@rmsi.com  Ajay Goel RMSI, A-7, Sector 16 Noida 201 301, UP, India Tel: +91 120 251 1102 Fax: +91 120 251 0963 ajay.goel@rmsi.com Abstract: Information is one of the valuable assets to any Government. Land information is prime requisite for making decisions related to land investment, development and management. Since land is a limited natural resource for human activities, it requires effective management systems. Urban land is among the most valuable economic and social resources of any nation, and it is very difficult to manage it properly without an adequate system for the measurement and recording of the boundaries of parcels, and the registration of all legal rights related to each parcel etc. The upcoming technologies such as GIS, Data warehousing and Web are very much helpful for the creation, updating as well as management of the land record information. The emphasis of this paper is to present an effective Land Registration process with the help of various available GIS Technologies. 1. Introduction Land, which is a limited natural resource, has been regarded as a measure of power, wealth and status from time immemorial. Any developmental activity is nearly impossible to consider without taking land into consideration. Now, it is being widely regarded that an efficient land management system is one of the indices of a nation’s developmental status. Hence, it can be said that the land plays the role of the most crucial element for societies progress anywhere in the world. Countries that are rapidly transforming into an industrialized economy, consequently, suffers from troubles like urban overcrowding, unlimited exploitation of precious natural resources like land are being put to enormous strain and screaming for proper management. Land Administration, therefore, shall have to evolve procedures and methodologies consistent with the social dynamics of the day. Land records in India, are said to have originated during the Mughal period, but were put on scientific foundation by the British. During this period that large-scale cadastral surveys were conducted to determine the boundaries and extent of each individual landholding and to settle the crop-sustaining ability (or fertility) of different soils. This had been done to rationalize the levy and collection of land revenue from the landholders each an every village. 2. Land Registration Department 2.1. Key responsibilities of a Land Registration Department The key function of the Land Registration Department is the maintenance of a statutory Register of details to property. This involves the processing of applications for registration arising from property transactions and the provision of access to textual details and maps that make up the register, for inspection or copy purposes. Arising from its statutory function and business role, the Land Registration Department manages a considerable volume of legal casework and records. 2.2. Past Scenarios The biggest concern in the ancient system is that it was completely person/individual driven. People have to approach to the revenue inspector for any land transaction who was the key of the whole system. He was the person, who will modify the revenue/land records, provide a copy to the individual. Updating and maintaining the cloth bound maps and fragile yellow pages was a tedious task. As the whole system was person driven, there were delays in the updates and disputes due to incorrect entries/modifications. Creating a digital database for the parcels/cadastral and providing some smart tools can provide his much needed help to perform his duties accurately and efficiently.  Few states have taken this initiative and towards the Land Reforms and have completed the computerization of the land record data which can be used to take print outs of the individual holdings etc. The states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are to name a few and some states are in process of developing this digital database. Though few states have tried to digitize the cadastral data but neither has been successful in creating the same for whole state.  2.4. Issues with the current system Employing manual labor and making use of inexpensive, approximate and rudimentary, but friendly survey instruments generates the present land records. As the entire exercise is manual, completion of survey and mapping operations has taken even decades and, by the time the maps and the land registers are put to maintenance, they were already outdated to a great extent. Elaborate and time consuming land settlement operations also contributed to the delays in finalizing the land records. Hence prime emphasize should be given for the computerization of the land records maintenance for the benefit of the public and to bring in e-governance into effect at the grass root levels. Evolving system architecture, educating the concerned officers and the public of the benefits and implementing it are the key areas that require the most attention. The system architecture design should be taken into consideration the specific problems related to the land records. 3. Emerging Technologies/ Trends in Land Registration There are various kinds of real time problems and drawbacks in the present-day land registration process. In the cyber era unique technologies have emerged up and they act as asserts to the present demands in information technology. To start with, we have to focus to create the spatial data by digitizing the cadastral maps as the base data. Geographic information system (GIS) is the only computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing the things that exist and happen in the geography. 3.1. GIS GIS technology integrates common database operations such as query and statistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographic analysis benefits offered by maps. These abilities distinguish GIS from other information systems and make it valuable to a wide range of public and private enterprises for explaining events, predicting outcomes and planning strategies. Land Registration Process would require a huge amount of maps digitized and integrated with large databases. GIS is an excellent tool, which handles all these kind of spatial as well as non-spatial data.   4.1. Database (RDBMS) Initially, the computerization started using then prevalent database of that time. With technology changing at a fast pace, much more efficient RDBMS are now available offering powerful features. Deciding about the right RDBMS that we would like to adopt we must consider its robustness, the security protocols that it offers (land records being a legal and sensitive information), its ability to handle numerous transactions. One may also like to analyze features offered by some of the databases that enable even the spatial components to be stored within the database. This may have a significant impact on the way the digital cadastre could be stored and maintained. Of course, if a state decides to go for a database that has capabilities of storing the geometry of the fields, it will also have to devise the methods for verification of mutations by the revenue inspectors/ Patwaris and how these changes will be made in the database. All major RDBMS support multilingual UI. Instead of having the data in their respective language alone, states must adopt a bi-lingual approach. Apart from its own language the records should be available in a more acceptable common language so that there is standardization across the states, which can provide flexibility to the system at a future date. 4.2. Data Warehousing and Data Mining Data warehouse is a storage device or simply a vessel in which information is added. In essence, a data warehouse is a large database organizing operational data in a repository for easy query and analysis. It is a well-conceived and well-designed environment containing data that are keys to an organization’s decision-making process. A data warehouse helps organize the data. Data mining helps end-users extract useful business information from large databases. It brings the power of predictive modeling to Decision -makers and Strategy planners. The concepts of data warehousing and mining are extended to spatial (maps and images) data also. The huge volume of information created for the Land Registration Process can be implemented in data warehousing. The history of property transfer as well as division of land parcels can be visualized with this technology. The revenue information for landholders, crop pattern and yield trends can very well be studied once the LRIMS is warehoused. There are large number of COTS (Commercially Off The Shelf) software available, which takes care of spatial data warehousing and data mining. 4.3. Web The explosion of Internet activity over recent years has sparked a global move away from traditional isolated single-software, single machine computing, towards distributed multiple-software, multiple –machine computing. The advantages are obvious - larger information base, up-to-date information and greater computing power. The web technology has given tremendous scope to Land Registration Process. The huge database of Land Registration including both spatial as well as non-spatial data can be safely stored in a centralized server in the main land registration department of each state. This information will be accessed through Internet from different sub-divisions. Various levels of information will be available to different departments and they can be password protected to prevent illegal accessing of data. Land record data updation and modification of revenue information, property transfer and crop yield can be done at the client side and saved back in the server. On the client side the permission for data updation, deletion will be given to the concerned authority with the provision of login and password. Solutions and indigenous capabilities exist within the country to develop solutions that are recognized by developed nations, are implementable, do-able, and can see light of the day**. 5. Conclusion Integration of FMB and alphanumeric data is indispensable to have a full-fledged LRIMS. In the traditional manual methods the query of land record with all the related data is comparatively time consuming and laborious. The technologies like GIS, spatial data warehousing and web are very mush helpful to generate a complete LRIMS. All Taluka offices, to update the information as well as to keep a track of ownership, crop yield and revenue will use this system. With the aid of these recent technologies all the land record information will be under fingertip (click of mouse). Land record information management will be easier and faster. References
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