The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Over the next three weeks, nearly all 20 lakh property owners in Bengaluru will receive an SMS from the BBMP as part of the new e-Khata issuance system.
So far, officials have sent broadcast messages to about three lakh properties. The SMS will inform recipients that BBMP staff will visit their property to capture GPS coordinates, which are required for obtaining the e-Khata.
The SMS reads: “The BBMP is creating e-Khata for every property. GPS coordinates are mandatory for obtaining e-Khata. BBMP staff will visit your property in a few days to capture GPS details. Please have your property tax receipt ready and cooperate with the BBMP staff to ensure accurate GPS tagging. The property GPS will serve as the Bhu Aadhaar, acting as the property’s unique identifier.”
Many residents have reported receiving this message in the past three to four days.
Munish Moudgil, BBMP’s Special Commissioner (Revenue), stated that the civic body is sending out one lakh SMS messages per day. “This initiative is aimed at raising awareness so our staff can complete the task more efficiently. We plan to capture the latitude and longitude coordinates of every property within the next six months,” he said.
Moudgil added that capturing GPS coordinates will be easier for apartments and independent houses compared to vacant plots. “We will request the tax receipt from each flat owner, and the same GPS data will be used. Additionally, we are launching a mobile app that allows citizens to input their coordinates directly,” he noted.
Bhu Aadhaar, a central government initiative, will use GPS coordinates to uniquely identify properties, similar to fingerprints.
Amith Nigli from the citizen group Banaswadi Rising expressed concerns about the lack of an official announcement before the broadcast messages. He questioned whether property owners would receive their e-Khata documents after the BBMP staff completes the GPS capture or if citizens need to apply for them.
BBMP officials confirmed that a faceless, contactless online e-Khata issuance system will soon be rolled out. “All 21 lakh existing khatas have been digitised. The GPS coordinates will serve as the unique identity for each property and are crucial for the e-khata service,” said BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath.
The campaign
The campaign aims to assign GPS coordinates to each property to prevent misappropriation.
Once the GPS coordinates are captured, the same land cannot be claimed by others.
The BBMP’s extensive property list lack’s location details, so GPS tagging will help protect against fraudulent claims.
For multi-storey flats, while GPS coordinates may be similar, flat numbers and other details will ensure unique identification.