Pune: Property owners across Maharashtra may soon find it easier to access accurate ownership records and update land documents. The state govt has launched a massive drone-based survey to map urban properties and is digitising the mutation process for nearly one crore records.The revenue department’s statewide exercise covers municipal areas and extended gaothan (village site) limits. Officials stated that the move is designed to bridge persistent gaps in urban land records and drastically reduce future ownership disputes.State settlement commissioner Shailesh Nawal told TOI that, following directions from the revenue minister, a govt resolution (GR) has been issued and detailed guidelines provided to urban local bodies. “Some municipal corporations have already commenced the process,” Nawal said.Officials from the settlement commissioner’s office explained that the drone surveys will generate high-resolution digital maps. These will be used to create property cards and update records in rapidly expanding urban areas where documentation has historically failed to keep pace with growth.“The drone surveys — combined with GIS mapping, geo-referencing, and on-ground verification — will create a reliable, high-quality database for citizens,” an official said. Once draft maps are prepared, they will be opened for public scrutiny to ensure accuracy before being finalised. These maps will capture precise property boundaries, roads, open spaces, and water bodies.Parallel to the mapping, the state is accelerating the digitisation of “property mutations”— the legal process of recording ownership changes due to sales, inheritance, gift deeds, or other transactions.According to the settlement commissioner’s office, over 1.4 lakh mutation applications have already been processed through the electronic property system integrated tool (ePSIT). This online platform is designed to eliminate paperwork and the need for physical visits to govt offices.The ePSIT system currently handles the most common mutation categories, including property purchases and mortgages, inheritance and wills, gift and relinquishment deeds and lease transactions.Under the new digital workflow, applicants can file requests from home, track their progress online, and receive SMS alerts at every stage.“The objective is to make property services faster and more transparent. Applications are now processed on a first-come, first-served basis through an automated system, reducing the dependency on physical interaction with officials,” a senior official added.he department is now working to bring all remaining mutation categories onto the platform as part of its broader modernisation of the state’s land records.
