Chapter III THE SURVEY OF ESTATES

The [State Government] or subject to the control of the [State Government], any officer or authority to whom this power may be delegated by it, may by notification direct the survey of any estate or portion of an estate or of any boundary therein--

(a) on the application in writing of the proprietor of such estate or in the case of a boundary, of any person interested therein; or

(b) without such application whenever in the opinion of the [State Government] such survey is necessary---

(i) for the better or more convenient assessment or levy of irrigation cess;

(ii) for any other reason to be recorded prior to the issue of such notification.

Provided (1) that any person making an application under clause (a) shall forward with his application & statement in writing signed by him to the effect that he will pay the whole cost of the survey and if required will deposit the amount in a Government treasury before the survey is commenced and (2) that any survey commenced under that clause may be stopped on the withdrawal of his application by the applicant unless the [State Government] sees reason to direct the continuance of the survey in virtue of the power conferred on it by clause (b).

Except as provided in sections 19 and 20, the conduct of such survey and the proceedings of the survey officer shall, as far as may be, be regulated by the procedure laid down in Chapter II with regard to the survey of Government lands; and the provisions contained in that chapter in regard to appeals from the orders of a survey officer, the granting of copies thereof and the effect of such orders, and of the decisions passed in appeals there from and in regard to the right of suit in respect of such orders and decisions shall, as far as may be, apply to all orders passed by a survey officer under this chapter and to the decisions passed in appeals against such orders.

All costs incurred by the [State Government] on account of a survey directed under clause (a) of section 17 shall be recoverable from the persons who have any interest in the estate, portion of estate, or boundary of which the survey has been ordered as an arrear of land revenue; the cost of a survey directed under clause (b) (i) and (ii) of section 17 shall be borne by the [State Government] unless otherwise provided by any law for the being in force.

(1) On the application of the proprietor of an estate in which any survey has been made, the [State Government] or any officer, or authority to whom this power may be delegated by it, may direct the survey officer to apportion among the holders of the lands or persons interested in the boundaries which have been surveyed the whole or a specified portion of the cost of such survey; provided that no tenant under a proprietor shall be called upon to pay a larger sum on account of such survey than he would be liable to pay if he held his land directly under the Government.

(2) The apportionment under sub-section (1) shall be made in the prescribed manner.

(3) The amount apportioned under this section when it is due by the tenants of a proprietor shall be recoverable as if it were an arrear of rent due by a tenant to his landholder

(4) For the purpose of this section and section 21, the expression ‘tenant’ shall include the holder of a rent-free grant.

When an estate or a portion of an estate or a boundary in an estate has been surveyed in pursuance of a notification issued under section 17, the survey officer shall report the completion of the survey to the District Collector and to the proprietor, and the following consequences shall there upon ensue;-

(i) Subject to such conditions as may be prescribed in this behalf, every tenant of the land surveyed, and where there is no tenant, the proprietor, shall be bound to maintain, renew and repair the survey marks on or within the boundaries of his holding, and in default of his doing so the Collector may, after giving notice to the tenant or proprietor as the case may be in the manner provided in sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 15, at the cost of the [State Government] maintain, renew and repair such survey marks and recover the cost of so doing as an arrear of land revenue. Such cost may include the cost of all operations incidental to such renewal or repair but not any charges on account of survey officers and supervising establishment.

(ii) It shall be the duty of the headman and of the accountant of every village the whole or a part of which has been surveyed—

(a) to prevent the destruction, injury, removal or alteration of any survey mark on or within the limits of his village; and

(b) when he becomes aware that any such mark has been destroyed injured removed or altered to report the fact to the proprietor of the estate and to the Collector or to such officer subordinate to the Collector as the District Collector may, from time to time, direct.