$150m foreign-funded project: Digital mapping of Lahore, other urban centres under way

LAHORE: The Board of Revenue Punjab has, for the first time, launched digital mapping of all Punjab urban centres including Lahore under the foreign-funded $150 million project called the Cadaster of Punjab.

According to sources, the Board of Revenue has launched preparation of Lahore’s digital map, in coordination with the Survey of Pakistan. Under the project, mapping of all buildings of the provincial capital would be carried out in the first phase, and numbers would be allotted to all buildings. Along with the number of each building, its area, value and details of its owners would also be digitalised. With the completion of the project across Lahore and other urban centres of Punjab, immoveable properties’ Khasra [legal Revenue Department document] number would be abolished.

Sources said the Punjab cabinet had given approval to a land reforms law, prepared by the Board of Revenue. Under the law, the offices of the private housing societies would be declared public offices, and record of those societies would be sealed and legal action would be taken against them which would not undergo an audit on regular basis.

Senior Member Board of Revenue Babar Hayat Tarar confirmed to this reporter that Digital Girdawari [periodical inspection to verify ownership] had already been launched in 807 qanungoiyan [lands falling under one registrar office in a district]. He hoped that taxation would become easy and effective with improvement in data digitalisation. He said the old Girdawari system had become obsolete, and with the implementation of the Digital Girdawari, 100 per cent forecast would become possible about annual crops production. He said it would be helpful for banks in issuance of loans, as they would have exact record of ownership of lands of the applicants.

Babar Hayat Tarar said that a gazetteer of each district was being published every hundred years. He said that ‘Roznamcha Waqiati’ [Daily Diary) was being activated in every village now, and reporting would start in the Roznamcha in the next few days.

Babar Tarar said that all departments would be provided all necessary information including diseases regularly after digitalisation of the data, and those failing to take timely action would be taken to task.

The Board of Revenue senior member said fake claims of lands would no more work and an amendment to the relevant was being carried out soon. He said the stamp papers sellers have been issued smart cards, and now stamp papers would be issued on while paper. He said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has also been signed with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for increasing taxation in the province.