The Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, in coordination with the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR), Government of Goa, has issued an official clarification regarding the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations (NAKSHA) pilot project. The government firmly reiterated that all existing property titles, boundaries, and official land records remain completely secure and unaffected by the ongoing mapping exercise, addressing groundless rumors about the initiative.
NAKSHA is executed under the national Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) as a GIS-based urban land parcel mapping initiative designed to enhance town planning, modernize land administration, and optimize public utility layouts across multiple states and Union Territories. The department specifically clarified that the rights of non-resident landowners and individuals residing abroad are fully safeguarded, with physical absence during survey visits not putting properties at risk or impacting legal ownership rights.
The programme framework integrates multiple verification stages and formally notified public viewing windows to ensure full legal protection for absent owners. Property ownership strictly follows established legal protocols and existing valid land titles, meaning no third party or neighbor can claim land based on physical presence during a survey. The government emphasized that NAKSHA is strictly a data-mapping exercise completely distinct from land acquisition frameworks, with no private land being taken over through this project.
The survey is not designed to increase local property taxes and simply documents physical land parcels as they currently exist on the field. Ongoing legal and boundary disputes remain unaffected and will continue to be managed by the appropriate judicial and administrative courts. Following the successful completion of the physical ground-truthing phase, the formal inquiry process is scheduled from July 16 to August 14, 2026, where property owners are directed to appear before concerned Inspectors at the Office of the Inspector of Survey and Land Records (ISLR), Osia Commercial Arcade, SGPDA Market, Margao, with documents relating to their property titles. Citizens do not require technical surveying expertise as appointed officials will provide step-by-step guidance, and the department urges reliance on official channels for participation in this transparency drive.