BDS Digital Land Survey in Bangladesh: What Land Owners Must Do at Each Stage

In this guide: What is the BDS survey and where is it running? · Stages of a land survey and what to do at each · Documents to keep ready during the survey · How to object to a wrong draft khatian and appeal · What if you miss the survey or the record is already final?

The short answer

BDS (Bangladesh Digital Survey) is the government’s new land survey, run by the Directorate of Land Records and Surveys under the Ministry of Land. It maps land using satellite images, drones and ground control points, and prepares a new khatian for every holding. Owners should be present when the survey team visits, show their deeds, mutation papers and tax receipts, and check the draft khatian and map when they are published. Wrong entries can be objected to and appealed during the survey at little cost. After final publication, the only remedy is a suit in the Land Survey Tribunal, which takes far longer.

What is the BDS survey and where is it running?

The Bangladesh Digital Survey is a cadastral survey: it maps every plot (dag) in a mouza and records who holds it. It is carried out by the Directorate of Land Records and Surveys (DLRS) under the Ministry of Land, through a digital land management project supported by South Korea. Instead of drawing maps by hand, it uses satellite imagery, drones and fixed ground control stations to produce geo-referenced digital maps, which are meant to be linked with the online mutation and land tax systems.

After a pilot in Patuakhali, BDS was formally launched in Chattogram in August 2023. The first phase covered several hundred mouzas in Chattogram, Narayanganj and Rajshahi city areas, Dhamrai and Kushtia Sadar upazilas and Manikganj municipality. In 2025 the government announced work in more mouzas, including Rupganj and Araihazar in Narayanganj, with wider rollout planned.

Coverage changes as the project moves, so do not rely on rumours. Ask your upazila settlement office or the local land office whether your mouza is under BDS, and watch for official notices, miking and camp announcements. In mouzas not yet covered, the existing RS, BS or city survey record remains the latest record.

Stages of a land survey and what to do at each

BDS is still a survey under section 144 of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act 1950 and the Tenancy Rules 1955. The digital tools change how maps are drawn, not your rights. The stages below are the traditional ones; in BDS mouzas some may be combined or renamed, so follow the notices for your area.

Documents to keep ready during the survey

• Registered deeds for your land and the earlier deeds in the chain (via deeds)
• Certified copies of earlier khatians: CS, SA, RS or BS, and the mouza map sheet
• Mutation (namjari) khatian and DCR
• Up-to-date land development tax receipts (dakhila)
• Warish (heirship) certificate and death certificates if the land is inherited
• Partition deed (bontonnama) or a court decree if the land was divided
• Court orders, injunctions or pending case papers about the land
• National ID and a phone number for notices

Keep originals safe and give officers attested photocopies. If the recorded owner has died, the heirs should agree among themselves who will attend, and make sure every heir is recorded.

Pay any land tax arrears. Unpaid tax does not by itself turn your land into khas land, but arrears can be recovered from you, and current receipts are useful evidence that you hold the land.

If you live abroad, authorise a trusted person in writing; see our guide on power of attorney from abroad.

How to object to a wrong draft khatian and appeal

If the draft khatian or map is wrong, do not wait for the final record.

1. Inspect the draft during the publication period at the camp or office, or online where the draft is published.
2. File a written objection under Rule 30 in the prescribed form with a small court fee, stating exactly what is wrong (name, share, dag, area, class or possession) and what the correct entry should be.
3. Attach evidence: deeds, earlier khatians, mutation papers, tax receipts, heirship certificate.
4. Attend the hearing. Other affected people are given notice and can oppose.
5. Appeal under Rule 31 to the appeal officer if the objection is wrongly decided. The time limit is short, commonly 30 days from the objection order, so get a certified copy of the order at once.

Where an entry was obtained by fraud before final publication, a separate application may lie, but the courts read that route narrowly. Take advice before using it.

No bribes. The only official payments are the prescribed fees, paid against a receipt. Do not pay brokers or anyone who promises a “favourable record”. Report demands for money to the Anti-Corruption Commission hotline 106 or the land service helpline 16122. A record bought with a bribe can be challenged later, and paying one is itself an offence.

What if you miss the survey or the record is already final?

Once the record is finally published, it is presumed correct (section 144A) and the survey officers can no longer change disputed entries. Your remedy then is a suit in the Land Survey Tribunal under section 145A. The suit must be filed within one year of final publication, or of the tribunal being set up if later, with one more year only if the tribunal accepts your reasons for delay. Tribunal cases take much longer and cost much more than an objection during the survey.

A purely clerical slip, such as a misspelt name, may be corrected by the AC Land on application. Anything that changes who owns how much needs the tribunal.

After the final record is out:

• Get a certified copy of your new khatian and map as soon as it is published.
• Check it line by line against your deeds.
• Complete namjari (mutation) for any transfer or inheritance not yet reflected.
• If something is wrong, take legal advice at once. The time limit runs whether or not you knew about the publication.