Buying Part of a Survey Number in Karnataka: The 11E Sketch and Podi Explained
Farmland around Bangalore is frequently advertised by the acre, cut from a larger holding that has one survey number. Such deals depend on a pair of survey documents in Karnataka: a sketch numbered 11E and a subdivision called podi. Below is a plain explanation of each, how they relate to the RTC and the other land records, and the checks a buyer should complete before paying anything.
The Short Version
A survey number is the village's label for one block of land. The 11E sketch is a surveyor's map of the slice being sold, made before registration. Podi is the lasting subdivision that turns each owner's slice into its own numbered holding with its own RTC.
The sketch handles one transaction, whereas podi settles the records for good. Buyers usually meet the sketch first and podi afterwards.
The Problem With Undivided Holdings
When a village was first surveyed, every block of revenue land received a number. If owners later share that block, the pieces are labelled with hissa numbers like 75/1 and 75/2. For each label, the RTC (or pahani) states who owns the land, its size and its type.
Trouble starts when names are divided but the earth is not. Picture four brothers listed together on a single RTC. All of them hold an undivided interest in the block, yet none can point to a measured plot of his own.
Reading the Records Side by Side
Each document answers a separate question, and a careful lawyer compares them.
- The RTC gives ownership, size and land type, with any loan or government claim
- The tippani holds the first field measurements of the block
- The akarband states the settled size, with kharab land and assessment
- The village map shows the shape of each block and where it falls
- The 11E sketch draws the slice that will change hands
- The mutation register records each transfer along with the approving order
Sizes in the RTC and akarband must tally. If they differ, the Survey Department corrects the entries first (the process is durasti), which can shrink the size on paper. Pricing should follow the repaired figure.
Kharab deserves its own attention. It covers ground recorded as unfit for farming, for example rock, a cattle path or a stream. When kharab serves the public, it is government property and goes nowhere with a sale.
What the 11E Sketch Does
Karnataka has asked for this drawing since 2006, whenever a deed handles only a portion of a block. A licensed surveyor goes to the field, takes the slice's measurements and sets it inside the full outline. Dimensions, size and the adjoining holdings on every side are written on it.
The timing, ahead of the deed, gives it the alternative name pre-mutation sketch. The registration office treats it as a mandatory attachment, and the deed cites it. Older deeds that conveyed an acre of Sy. No. 75 with no map left doubt about which acre was meant, and the drawing removes that doubt.
What Podi Adds
This is the Survey Department's job, and the word is also spelt phodi. A surveyor takes each owner's share, measures it, pegs it out in the field and plots it on the survey map. A hissa number and an RTC follow for every share.
It happens in two usual ways. Co-owners may request a division of their joint holding, often described as tatkal podi. It also follows a sale of a portion, because the buyer's slice has to be separated from the rest.
A finished podi is the best sign for a buyer. The seller is the only name on an RTC whose size matches the offer, and the map draws that piece with boundaries of its own.
Where and How to Apply
Mojini, the Survey Department's online system, accepts the requests. They can also be lodged at a Nadakacheri or taluk office. On the form go the survey number, the owners and the size to be measured, and a fee is charged for every survey number.
Once a surveyor is allotted, a notice announces the measuring date, and the neighbours are told so that boundaries can be settled in person. The approved sketch comes with a number that the buyer may check online. After registration, the revenue office records the mutation, gives the slice its hissa number and prepares a new RTC in the buyer's name.
Where an Approved Layout Changes Things
Land within a sanctioned residential layout follows another route. Each site is known by its plan number and its khata, as the developer converts the land and obtains approval first. The sketch is meant for land that is still on an RTC.
Even so, the survey papers of the parent land belong in the title review, with the conversion order. Be wary of any offer framed as a share of a block when no sanctioned layout stands behind it.
Eight Checks to Finish Before Paying
The following list covers the essentials for a buyer of a portion.
- Compare the newest RTC with the offer on name and size
- Find out if podi is complete or if the RTC still lists many co-owners
- Obtain the sketch and confirm its number on Mojini
- Compare sizes in the RTC, akarband and sketch, and ask about durasti
- Look at the kharab entry and keep it out of the size sold
- Walk the boundary alongside a surveyor, comparing boundary stones with the drawing
- Gather mutation extracts and an encumbrance certificate for the whole title period
- Chase the mutation after registration until an RTC reaches the buyer
The walk itself is described in a separate piece on boundary checks for plots. Anyone exploring approved plotted projects in the city can send us a message.
