Cadaster, Land use, and Land Management

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This section covers the history, principles and components of the cadastre, international practice, analog and digital cadastral survey methods, the projection system and sheet numbering, the cadastral system of Nepal and the procedure for updating records.

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Definition and Purpose • A cadastre (FIG Statement on the Cadastre, 1995) is 'a parcel-based and up-to-date land information system containing a record of interests in land (e.g. rights, restrictions and responsibilities)'.

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It normally includes a geometric description of land parcels linked to records describing the nature of the interests, the ownership or control of those interests, and often the value of the parcel and its improvements. • Purposes: fiscal (land taxation and valuation), legal/juridical (security of tenure, registration of rights, conveyancing) and multipurpose (planning, land management, infrastructure, environment, disaster management and statistics).

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The land parcel — a continuous area under homogeneous rights — is the basic unit, identified by a unique parcel identifier (in Nepal the kitta number with the sheet/ward).

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History • Land records for taxation existed in ancient Egypt, Babylon, China and Rome.

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The modern parcel-based cadastre dates from the Napoleonic cadastre of France (1807), which was copied across Europe for taxation and later for legal purposes; the Torrens title-registration system was introduced in South Australia in 1858. • In Nepal, land records developed from the Birta, Jagir, Guthi, Raikar and Kipat systems; systematic cadastral survey (napi) began in the 1960s under the Land (Survey and Measurement) Act, 2019 B.S.

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(1963), starting in the Terai and Kathmandu Valley and gradually covering most districts; the records are maintained by the Survey and Land Revenue offices, and are now being digitised.

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(Dates and coverage should be verified against current Survey Department publications.) Principles and Components • Principles: the parcel as the basic unit with a unique identifier; the record must be complete, current (up to date), reliable, simple, accessible and affordable; boundaries may be fixed (surveyed and legally guaranteed) or general (defined by physical features, with the map showing the approximate line); the spatial and textual records must be kept consistent through defined transactions. • Components:

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(1) the cadastral map/index — the spatial record of parcel boundaries, numbers, areas and features;

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(2) the cadastral register/record — the textual record of owner, area, tenure, land use, value, restrictions and transactions (in Nepal the field book and the land-revenue records, with the Lalpurja ownership certificate issued to the owner); and (3) the legal framework, institutions and procedures that give the records legal force and keep them current.

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International Practice • Approaches differ: the German/Swiss and Dutch cadastres are precise, fixed-boundary and fully integrated with title registration; the English general-boundary system registers title on a topographic base; the Torrens system is used in Australia and much of the Commonwealth; many Asian and African countries operate deed registration with separate cadastral mapping. • Modern concepts:

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Cadastre 2014 (FIG vision of a fully digital, complete legal-object cadastre), the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM, ISO 19152) as an international data standard, the continuum of land rights and fit-for-purpose land administration (flexible, participatory, affordable methods such as orthophoto-based mapping to record rights quickly), the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) for informal settlements, and 3-D/marine cadastre for apartments, utilities and airspace.

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Cadastral Survey Methods, Projection and Sheet Numbering Method Notes Analog methods Plane table with chain/tape (the traditional Nepali cadastral survey), compass and chain survey — cheap and quick but of limited accuracy, and the map cannot be re-plotted at another scale; boundaries drawn graphically Digital methods Total station and GNSS (RTK/network-RTK with CORS) surveys giving coordinated boundary points; orthophoto/UAV-based mapping with participatory boundary identification (fit-for-purpose); digitisation and georeferencing of existing cadastral sheets; results stored in a spatial database rather than on paper Scales Large scales suited to parcel size: about 1:500 for dense urban areas, 1:1 200–1:2 500 for settlements and cultivated land, and smaller scales for sparsely parcelled hill areas (verify current Survey Department specifications) Projection and sheet numbering Older Nepali cadastral sheets were plotted on local plane systems; current practice uses the national grid — the Modified UTM (MUTM, 3° zones with central meridians 81°, 84° and 87° E on the Everest 1830 ellipsoid) and UTM zones 44/45 — with systematic sheet numbers derived from the grid (sheet index by zone, easting and northing) so that each sheet and parcel has a unique reference Cadastral System of Nepal and Updating of Records • Institutions: the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation; the Survey Department with its survey offices (cadastral survey, mapping, boundary and parcel records); and the Department of Land Management and Archive with the Land Revenue (Malpot) Offices (registration of transactions, land revenue, issue of the ownership certificate Lalpurja). • Records: the cadastral map (sheet), the field book (fild buk) listing parcel number, area, owner, tenure and land use, the registers of the land revenue office, and the owner's Lalpurja; parcels are identified by kitta number. • Survey procedure: public notice → demarcation of boundaries by owners → cadastral survey and preparation of the map and field book → public display and hearing of objections → correction and finalisation → registration of rights and issue of certificates. • Updating (maintenance): mutation/transfer (namsari) on sale, inheritance or gift; subdivision (kitta kat) and amalgamation; boundary correction and rectification of errors; changes of land use or tenure; acquisition for public purposes; and periodic re-survey where the old maps have become unusable.

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Each transaction must update both the land-revenue record and the cadastral map, which is why integration in a digital land information system (4.4) is the main modernisation objective. • Problems: old graphical maps of limited accuracy and different datums, discrepancies between map and ground, dual ownership and tenancy claims, encroachment on public and Guthi land, unregistered informal settlements, and delays in updating.

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This section covers the definition and functions of land administration, land reform, land taxation and the land market.

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Definition and Functions • Land administration (UNECE Land Administration Guidelines) is 'the processes of recording and disseminating information about the ownership, value and use of land and its associated resources'.

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It is the way in which land policy is put into effect through institutions, laws, records and technology. • The four functions (Enemark's land management paradigm): land tenure — securing, recording and transferring rights; land value — valuation, taxation and the land market; land use — planning and control of the use of land; and land development — implementing infrastructure, construction permits and change of use.

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They are supported by the cadastre, the land register and the land information infrastructure, and serve the goals of sustainable development. • Institutions in Nepal: the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation with the Survey Department and the Department of Land Management and Archive (Land Revenue Offices); local governments (municipal land use and building permits, property tax); the courts; the Land Management Training Centre; and, for planning, the National Planning Commission and land use councils.

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Land Reform • Land reform is the deliberate change of the laws, institutions and practices governing the ownership and use of land, usually to increase equity, tenure security and productivity.

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Its measures include ceilings on holdings and redistribution of surplus land, tenancy reform, abolition of intermediary tenures, registration of rights, settlement of the landless, and support services (credit, extension, irrigation). • In Nepal: abolition of the Birta system (2016 B.S./1959), the Land Act, 2021 B.S.

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(1964) introducing ceilings on land holdings and tenancy (mohiyani) rights, with later amendments reducing ceilings and dealing with dual ownership (the tenant and landowner each receiving a share), conversion of Kipat and other customary tenures into Raikar, and the continuing programmes for landless (sukumbasi), unregistered settlers and freed bonded labourers (kamaiya/haliya), with commissions formed to settle their claims. 'Scientific land reform' remains a stated policy objective.

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(Ceilings, commissions and programme details change — verify against the current Act and policy.) • Issues: fragmentation and small holdings, absentee ownership, conversion of farmland to plots, weak records, and the difficulty of enforcing ceilings.

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Land Taxation • Purposes: to raise revenue (a stable, immovable base that is hard to hide), to promote efficient use of land and discourage speculation and idle holding, to recover part of the value created by public investment, and to support equity. • Forms: land revenue/land tax (annual, on area and land class), property (house and land) tax levied by local governments, registration fee/stamp duty on transfers, capital gains tax on the profit from sale, vacant-land and betterment levies, and rent from public land. • Requirements: a complete and current fiscal cadastre, a fair and regularly updated valuation (mass appraisal), clear rates, and efficient collection and appeal procedures.

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Problems in practice: valuations far below market value, incomplete records, exemptions, under-declaration of transaction prices to avoid fees, and weak enforcement.

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Land Market • The land market is the set of arrangements by which rights in land are exchanged — sale, lease, mortgage, inheritance and gift; it may be formal (registered) or informal (unregistered occupation and transactions, common in squatter settlements). • Price formation depends on supply (land is fixed in quantity and immobile) and demand, and hence on location and accessibility, infrastructure and services, permitted land use and zoning, plot size and shape, topography and soil, legal status and tenure security, planning restrictions, and expectations.

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Land is also an investment and a hedge, so speculation can drive prices far above use value — visible in the Kathmandu Valley and highway corridors, where agricultural land is converted into plots. • A functioning land market needs secure and transferable rights, reliable and public land information, simple and cheap transfer procedures, access to credit (mortgage) and dispute resolution.

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Weak records, high transfer costs and informal transactions raise risk and reduce efficiency — one of the strongest arguments for a modern land information system.

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This section covers land laws, tenure security and tenure systems, the types of land registration and the merits and demerits of the registration systems.

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Land Tenure • Land tenure is the relationship among people with respect to land — the rules that define how rights to use, control and transfer land are allocated, for how long and under what conditions.

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Rights are often described as a 'bundle': to use, to exclude, to transfer, to mortgage, to inherit. • Tenure types: private (freehold), state/public, communal/customary, open access, leasehold, tenancy/sharecropping, and religious/trust land.

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In Nepal the historical categories include Raikar (state-owned land with private use rights — the general form today), Birta (granted, abolished), Guthi (land endowed to religious or philanthropic trusts, a tenure peculiar to Nepal), Kipat (communal tenure of some ethnic groups, converted to Raikar) and Jagir/Rakam (service tenures, abolished), together with registered tenancy (mohi) rights and widespread informal occupation (sukumbasi settlements). • Tenure security is the reasonable certainty that a person's rights in land will be recognised and protected against eviction or arbitrary interference.

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Secure tenure encourages investment and soil conservation, allows land to be used as collateral for credit, reduces disputes, supports the rights of women and vulnerable groups, and increases land values.

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Security can come from formal titles, from customary recognition or from long occupation — hence the modern idea of a continuum of land rights rather than a single formal title for everyone.

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Land Laws in Nepal • The main statutes are the Land (Survey and Measurement) Act, 2019 B.S.

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(cadastral survey, boundaries, field book, objections, penalties), the Land Act, 2021 B.S.

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(ceilings, tenancy, dual ownership), the Land Revenue Act, 2034 B.S.

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(registration of transactions, land revenue and record maintenance), the Land Acquisition Act, 2034 B.S.

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(acquisition for public purpose and compensation), the Guthi Corporation Act, 2033 B.S., the Land Use Act, 2076 B.S., the National Civil Code, 2074 B.S.

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(property, inheritance and contract) and the Constitution of Nepal, 2072 B.S., which guarantees the right to property and directs the state towards scientific land reform.

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(Verify current amendments — several of these Acts have been amended recently.) Land Registration Systems System What is registered and its character Deed registration (registration of deeds) The transaction document (deed) is recorded, with the date and parties, in a public register.

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The register proves that a transaction took place but does not guarantee the validity of the right; a purchaser must search the chain of earlier deeds.

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Simple and cheap to establish, and it can work with approximate boundaries Title registration (registration of titles) The right itself — the current owner and the burdens on the parcel — is recorded for each parcel, and the state guarantees it.

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Based on the Torrens model, it rests on three principles: the mirror principle (the register reflects the current facts accurately), the curtain principle (no need to look behind the register at earlier transactions) and the insurance/guarantee principle (compensation if the register is wrong) Practice in Nepal Nepal operates a system of registration of transactions at the Land Revenue Office combined with a parcel-based cadastre and the issue of an ownership certificate (Lalpurja), which gives it many of the practical features of title registration; the state maintains the record and it is relied on in transactions and by banks Deed registration Title registration Merits Cheap and quick to introduce; needs no accurate survey at the start; suits large numbers of informal rights Certainty of ownership; simple, quick and cheap transactions; strong support for mortgage and the land market; fewer disputes Deed registration Title registration Demerits No guarantee of title; every transaction needs a title search; risk of fraud and conflicting claims; growing volume of documents Expensive and slow to establish (needs systematic survey and adjudication); needs strong institutions and up-to-date maintenance; compensation fund required • Whatever the system, registration must be compulsory for transactions, complete, current and open to the public; otherwise the register quickly falls behind reality, which is the commonest failure in practice.

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This section covers the components of a land information system, its stakeholders, its data, the procedure of establishing it, and data maintenance and dissemination.

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Definition and Components • A land information system (LIS) is an information system for the acquisition, processing, storage, analysis and dissemination of land-related data, in which the data are referenced to land parcels.

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It is the technical core of land administration; a GIS is a more general spatial system, while an LIS is parcel-based and legally oriented. • Components: data (the most valuable and expensive part), hardware, software, people and organisation (skilled staff, institutional arrangements and mandates), and procedures and standards (workflows, data models, quality and security rules), connected by a network for sharing.

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Stakeholders • Government: survey and land-revenue departments, municipalities and rural municipalities, planning and revenue authorities, utilities (electricity, water, roads), forest and agriculture agencies, disaster management; judiciary (courts settling land disputes); financial sector (banks and insurance using land as collateral); private sector (licensed surveyors, valuers, lawyers, developers, real-estate agents); and above all the land owners, tenants and citizens, plus researchers, NGOs and donors.

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Each has different data needs, so the system must serve many users from a single authoritative source.

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Data • Spatial data: parcel boundaries and numbers, buildings, roads and rights of way, administrative boundaries, land-use zones, control points and the orthophoto/topographic base.

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Attribute data: owner and other right-holders, area, tenure type, restrictions and responsibilities, transactions and history, assessed value and taxes, land use and soil class, and building details. • The unique parcel identifier is the key that links the spatial and attribute records and allows other databases (taxation, utilities, addresses, population) to be joined.

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Data quality is judged by accuracy (positional and thematic), completeness, currency (up-to-dateness), consistency and lineage, and is described in metadata; standards such as LADM (ISO 19152) and national spatial-data-infrastructure specifications ensure interoperability.

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Procedure of Establishment • Typical steps:

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(1) needs assessment and feasibility study — users, benefits, costs, legal changes needed;

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(2) design — conceptual and logical data model, parcel identifier, coordinate system, software and hardware, workflows;

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(3) pilot project in a limited area;

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(4) data capture and conversion — scanning, digitising and georeferencing existing cadastral sheets, new surveys where the maps are unusable, entry of textual records, and linking of the two;

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(5) validation and quality control, including field checks and reconciliation of map and register;

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(6) integration with the registration workflow so that the database becomes the working record, not a copy;

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(7) training, legal recognition of digital records, and roll-out;

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(8) maintenance and dissemination. • Critical success factors: political and legal support, adequate and sustained funding, staff capacity, realistic data-quality expectations from old maps, and above all a maintenance mechanism — a database that is not updated is worse than useless.

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Maintenance and Dissemination • Maintenance is transaction-driven: every mutation, subdivision, amalgamation, boundary correction, change of land use or acquisition must update both the spatial and the textual records, with a history/audit trail, version control, defined responsibilities, backups and security against unauthorised change; periodic quality audits and re-survey of problem areas complete it. • Dissemination: counter services and printed extracts, web portals and e-services (search of parcel information, application for mutation, payment of fees online), machine-to-machine sharing with banks, municipalities and utilities, and open publication of non-sensitive data through a national spatial data infrastructure.

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Policies must balance transparency with the privacy of personal data, and define pricing, licensing and liability. • Benefits: faster and cheaper transactions, fewer disputes and frauds, better revenue collection, support to planning, utilities and disaster management, and transparency.

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Challenges in Nepal: legacy graphical maps of varying accuracy and datum, incomplete coverage, resources and skills, institutional coordination between survey and land-revenue offices, and giving digital records full legal status.

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(Verify the current status of Nepal's land-record digitisation programmes.)

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This section covers the concepts of land use and land use planning, participation and implementation in planning, land consolidation and land pooling, land governance, land conflicts and their resolution, the basics of land valuation, its legal basis and land valuation in Nepal.

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Land Use and Land Use Planning • Land cover is what physically covers the ground (forest, water, built-up, bare soil); land use is the purpose for which people use the land (agriculture, residence, commerce, industry, recreation).

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Remote sensing observes cover directly and use only by inference. • Land use planning (FAO) is the systematic assessment of land and water potential, alternatives for land use, and the economic and social conditions, in order to select and adopt the best land-use options.

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It is carried out at national, provincial and local levels, and is implemented through zoning, building bye-laws, permits, transaction control and investment. • Steps: set goals and terms of reference → collect data (land resources, present use, socio-economic data, tenure) → analyse land suitability and demand → formulate alternatives → evaluate and select → prepare the plan and legal instruments → implement → monitor and revise.

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GIS-based multi-criteria suitability analysis is the standard technical tool. • In Nepal, the Land Use Act, 2076 (2019) and its regulation require the classification of all land into land use zones — agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, mining and minerals, forest, river/stream/lake and water bodies, public use, cultural and archaeological, and others — with land use councils/committees at federal, provincial and local level, restrictions on plotting and on the conversion of agricultural land, and land use maps prepared for each local level.

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(Verify the current zone list and procedures.) • Participation and implementation: consultation of land owners and communities, public hearings, participation of local government, and transparent appeal procedures; implementation depends on building permits, registration control (refusing transactions that conflict with the plan) and enforcement capacity.

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Weak enforcement, fragmentation of holdings, unplanned plotting and urban sprawl onto fertile land are the principal problems.

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Land Consolidation and Land Pooling Technique Description Land consolidation A rural instrument: fragmented and scattered holdings are re-arranged into fewer, larger and better-shaped parcels, usually with new roads, irrigation and drainage, and an updated cadastre.

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Merits: efficient cultivation and mechanisation, less travel, better infrastructure and clearer boundaries.

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Difficulties: valuation and re-allocation disputes, attachment to ancestral plots, cost and time, and the need for strong legal backing Land pooling (land readjustment) An urban instrument: the owners of unserviced land pool their parcels; the area is replanned with roads, drainage, water supply and open space; each owner receives a smaller but serviced and more valuable plot, and part of the land is sold to recover the project cost.

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Merits: little or no cash compensation or acquisition is needed, owners keep their land and share the gain, and it is participatory.

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Difficulties: lengthy procedures and consent requirements, disputes over valuation and plot allocation, speculation and delay in servicing.

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It has been used for several projects in the Kathmandu Valley and other Nepali towns Land Governance, Conflicts and Resolution • Land governance is the set of rules, processes and organisations through which decisions on access to, use of and control over land are made and implemented, and the way conflicting interests are reconciled.

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Good land governance is judged by transparency, accountability, participation, rule of law, equity, efficiency and effectiveness; the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT, 2012) and the World Bank's Land Governance Assessment Framework are the standard references.

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Weak governance shows itself in corruption, elite capture, illegal encroachment and land grabbing. • Land conflicts: boundary and encroachment disputes between neighbours; inheritance and family disputes; landlord-tenant (dual ownership) claims; encroachment on public, forest, river and Guthi land; informal settlements on public land; compensation disputes in acquisition; and errors or fraud in records. • Resolution: prevention through accurate, public and current records; negotiation and community mediation; administrative correction by the survey and land-revenue offices; quasi-judicial bodies and commissions (for example the commissions formed to settle the problems of landless and unregistered settlers); arbitration; and finally the courts.

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Alternative dispute resolution is preferred because court cases over land are slow and costly.

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Land Valuation • Value in land economics may be market value (the most probable price in an arm's-length transaction), rental value, assessed value for taxation, insurable value, investment value or compensation value.

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Its principles include supply and demand, highest and best use, substitution, anticipation of future benefits, contribution and change. • Factors affecting land value: location and accessibility; available infrastructure and services; permitted land use and zoning; plot size, shape, frontage and topography; soil and irrigation for farmland; legal status and tenure security; surrounding development; and market conditions and expectations. • Methods of valuation: comparative (sales comparison) method — the commonest, using adjusted prices of similar recent transactions; income capitalisation — value = net annual income ÷ capitalisation rate, for rented property; cost method — land value plus depreciated replacement cost of the building; residual (development) method — value of the completed development minus development cost and profit, used for development land; profit method for trading properties; and mass appraisal (CAMA) with statistical models and GIS for taxation of many properties at once. • Legal basis and practice in Nepal: valuation is needed for the registration fee and taxes (Land Revenue Offices publish minimum valuation rates used for assessing transfer fees), for compensation in land acquisition under the Land Acquisition Act, 2034 (determined by a compensation determination committee chaired by the Chief District Officer, considering prevailing prices and loss caused), for bank collateral (valuation by engineers/valuators under the lender's and Nepal Rastra Bank's requirements), and for accounting and court purposes.

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Problems: assessed/minimum values well below market prices, scarcity of reliable transaction data because prices are under-declared, and the limited number of trained professional valuers.

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(Verify the current valuation rules and institutional arrangements.)

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This section covers the Land Act, the National Land Use Policy, the National Land Policy, the Land Use Act and Regulations, and the Land (Survey and Measurement) Act and Rules.

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Constitutional and Policy Framework • The Constitution of Nepal, 2072 (2015) guarantees the right to property (acquisition, ownership, sale and disposal), subject to acquisition for public purpose with compensation, and includes directive principles on scientific land reform, the ending of dual ownership, the productive use of land and the rights of landless and marginalised groups; land administration responsibilities are shared between the federal, provincial and local levels. • National Land Use Policy, 2072 (2015) — provides for the classification of land into use zones, discourages the conversion of productive agricultural land, and calls for land use maps and plans at local level.

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National Land Policy, 2075 (2019) — the umbrella policy covering tenure security, land records modernisation, land use, the landless and informal settlers, land taxation and valuation, and institutional reform.

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(Verify the current versions and any revisions.) Act / Rule Main provisions Land (Survey and Measurement) Act, 2019 B.S. and Rules Legal basis of cadastral survey: appointment of survey officers, notice of survey, demarcation and marking of boundaries, preparation of the map and field book, public display and objections/appeals, correction of records, boundary disputes, re-survey, and penalties for damaging survey marks or obstructing the survey Land Act, 2021 B.S.

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Ceilings on land holdings, protection and registration of tenancy (mohiyani) rights, provisions for ending dual ownership, restrictions on fragmentation and on leaving land fallow, and land for the landless — amended several times Land Revenue Act, 2034 B.S. and Rules Registration of transactions, collection of land revenue, maintenance and correction of land records, issue of the ownership certificate, and the duties of Land Revenue Offices Land Acquisition Act, 2034 B.S.

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Acquisition of land for public purposes: notice and inquiry, compensation determination committee, basis and payment of compensation, resettlement and appeals Land Use Act, 2076 B.S. and Regulation Classification of land into land use zones, land use councils/committees at each level of government, preparation of land use maps and plans, restriction on plotting and on change of use of agricultural land, and penalties Guthi Corporation Act, 2033 B.S.

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Management of Guthi (trust) land and its protection Other related law National Civil Code 2074 (property, inheritance, contract), Local Government Operation Act 2074 (local land use, building permits, property tax), Public Roads Act, Building Act and municipal bye-laws, Forest Act, Environment Protection Act 2076 (IEE/EIA for land development), and the survey/registration fee rules Practical Points for the Geomatics Engineer • Cadastral survey and the correction of records must follow the procedure of the Land (Survey and Measurement) Act and Rules — including notice, demarcation by the owners, public display and the objection period; a survey done without this procedure has no legal effect. • Boundary marks are protected by law; their removal or damage is an offence.

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Subdivision and mutation must comply with the Land Use Act restrictions (for example on plotting agricultural land) and with local planning bye-laws. • Acquisition for a road or project requires the Land Acquisition Act procedure and proper valuation; environmental clearance may also be needed under the Environment Protection Act. • Important caution for the examination: the years, ceilings, zone lists, fee rates and institutional names in Nepali land law change with amendments and federal restructuring — check the latest Acts, Rules and Survey Department/Ministry notices before quoting specific figures.