Every plot a developer buys carries a record set, and the set is what proves you can build. It has four layers: the mouza and JL number that locate the land, the dag number that identifies the plot, the khatian that lists who owns it and in what share, and the deeds that move ownership from one name to another. A developer who holds these four as data — rather than as scans in a folder named after the project — can answer an approval query in minutes instead of days.
The record set, layer by layer
| Layer | What it is | What it proves |
|---|---|---|
| Mouza and JL number | The revenue village and its number | Which jurisdiction the land sits in |
| Dag number | Plot number on the mouza map | The specific piece of ground |
| Khatian | Record of rights, by survey (CS, SA, RS, BS, city) | Who owns it, in what share |
| Deeds | Registered transfers | How ownership reached the current holder |
| Mutation (namjari) | Updated record in the buyer's name | That the government record reflects the deed |
| Land tax receipt | Current dakhila | That dues are cleared and possession is recognised |
The recurring failure is holding the deed but not the mutation, and discovering at approval stage that the khatian still names a seller who has since died, moved abroad or sold to someone else.
Why partial purchases fragment everything
Most development land in Bangladesh is not bought from one person. A 20-katha plot may come from six co-owners over eighteen months, each sale with its own deed, its own price, its own share and its own mutation timeline. If the system records "Plot 4, Bashundhara — purchased", three problems follow:
- Nobody can say what share of the plot is actually held.
- The mutation status is a single field describing six different states.
- A co-owner who never sold surfaces during approval, and there is no record of who was contacted when.
The correct model is a plot with many acquisitions, each carrying its own seller, share, deed, consideration, and mutation status. The plot's overall status is then computed, not typed.
Cost, and why it belongs on the project
Land cost is the largest single line in most projects, and it arrives in fragments: consideration, stamp duty, registration fee, mutation cost, broker payment, legal fees, and often payments to occupants or claimants. Each fragment belongs against the plot, so that when project profitability is calculated, the land cost is the real one rather than the headline consideration.
Area units and the disputes they cause
Land is measured in katha, bigha, decimal and acre depending on who is speaking, and building area in square feet. Storing one canonical unit and converting for display prevents the most common and most expensive kind of arithmetic error. Katha, bigha, decimal, acre sets out the conversions and the regional variations that break them.
What good looks like
For any plot, in under a minute:
- Its mouza, JL and dag numbers, and the total area.
- Every acquisition against it, with share, deed number, date and consideration.
- Mutation status for each acquisition, with the pending ones flagged.
- The current land tax position.
- Scanned documents attached to the specific record they belong to, not to the project as a whole.
What to do next
Pick the plot on your current project with the messiest history and try to produce that list. Whatever you cannot produce is the part that will delay your next approval — see how plots, acquisitions and mutations are held together.