BENGALURU: The government has banned the conversion of land use for agricultural plots of five guntas or less, citing misuse of family partition rules.
In a circular issued last month, the land survey department instructed deputy commissioners to identify such plots upon receiving land use conversion applications and to forward the files to deputy directors of land documents for further processing.
The initiative follows the observation of a trend where landowners split farmland into smaller parcels, typically below 5 guntas, for easier registration, eventually selling them as revenue sites for profit. Many landowners sought permission to convert these small parcels for non-agricultural uses.
To mitigate these practices and prevent unauthorized layouts, the department has mandated officials to deny conversion requests and has warned of disciplinary measures against non-compliance, aiming to protect agricultural land and ensure proper land record management.
According to the circular, landowners can obtain an 11E sketch, a required pre-mutation document showing the exact boundaries of agricultural land intended for sale, gifting, or division. The Karnataka Land Revenue Act of 1964 allows for an 11E sketch to be issued only once for plots below 5 guntas during partition among family members. However, officials have discovered instances of landowners acquiring 11E sketches multiple times.
The circular stipulates that the land documents division should initiate a suo moto case and annul any such 11E sketches.
