Hyderabad: Barely a year after replacing the Dharani portal with Bhu Bharati, the Telangana govt has found that several loopholes that enabled irregular land transactions under the previous system continue to persist. In response, it has asked the National Informatics Centre to redesign parts of the software, plug vulnerabilities and introduce new safeguards to prevent misuse.Govt sources said the need for a revamp emerged after forensic audits into alleged irregularities and suspicious transactions linked to the Dharani portal revealed that some of the same vulnerabilities could still be exploited in Bhu Bharati.The NIC, which manages the portal, reportedly informed the government that the existing software architecture—largely derived from Dharani—remains vulnerable to similar forms of misuse.The issue came into focus during investigations into several suspected land-related frauds. In one such case reported last month in Yellampet village of Medcha Malkajgiri district, individuals allegedly attempted to mutate nearly two acres of land in their names using forged documents.The original landowners, who remain in possession of the property, were reportedly unaware of the proceedings and did not receive notices when the tahsildar initiated the mutation process and field survey. The documents were later found to be fake.Revenue officials said similar concerns have surfaced even under Bhu Bharati. In places such as Kukunoorpally in Siddipet district, land ownership records were allegedly altered without the knowledge of the original owners, while the nature and status of assigned lands were also changed in certain cases.“There is a need to change the codes in the software of Bhu Bharati land portal and also plug some problems and loopholes in the software, which were used by some people in Dharani software. Apart from software changes, some new provisions such as survey maps while registering the agricultural properties would be made available in the new avatar of Bhu Bharati,” sources in the govt said.Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, who constituted a committee to examine irregularities linked to both the Bhu Bharati and Dharani portals, has directed officials to ensure the system is protected against hacking, data tampering and other forms of cyber fraud.The committee includes officials from the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau, cybercrime wing, revenue department, IT department, and registration and stamps department.Officials said the software modifications would be carried out in the backend over the next few months without disrupting routine services, including agricultural land registrations being processed through the Bhu Bharati portal.
