पोटखराबा (potkharaba — the uncultivable part of a survey number) is the area your 7/12 utara records as unfit for farming, shown separately from the लागवडीयोग्य क्षेत्र (lagvadi yogya kshetra — cultivable area). It comes in two classes under Rule 2 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue (Restriction on Use of Land) Rules, 1968: Varg A — rocky ground, a nala, pits, quarries, farm buildings — which belongs to you and can be cultivated anytime, and Varg B — land under roads, footpaths, public water sources, burial grounds — which is reserved for public purposes and cannot be cultivated (Section 43, MLRC 1966). Since the GR of 29 August 2018, Varg A actually brought under cultivation can be reclassified as cultivable on the record. This guide covers the A/B difference, the conversion procedure, and what buyers should check.
Potkharaba mhanje kay — and where it sits on the 7/12
Most survey numbers are not uniformly farmable. When Maharashtra’s lands were surveyed, the patches inside a plot that could not be ploughed — a rock outcrop, a gully, the farmhouse footprint — were classed as unarable, kept inside the survey number, and exempted from assessment. That classed-out area is the potkharaba. It is part of your land, not a deduction from it: no land revenue is charged on it, but it does not stop belonging to the khatedar.
On the 7/12 itself, look at the area block of Village Form VII, just below the survey/gat number and the local field name. The form shows the cultivable area (लागवडीयोग्य क्षेत्र) and the potkharaba area as separate figures, with Varg A (वर्ग अ) and Varg B (वर्ग ब) on their own lines, and the total area of the survey number = cultivable + potkharaba. A plot recorded as 2 hectares 73 R might read: lagvadi yogya 2 H 71 R, potkharaba 2 R. The assessment (आकारणी) printed further down is computed only on the cultivable figure. The full column-by-column tour of the extract covers the rest of the form; here we stay on this one entry, because the single letter after “potkharaba” — अ or ब — changes what you can do with that ground.
Varg A vs Varg B: the difference that decides everything
Rule 2(1) of the 1968 Rules splits land “included in a survey number but classed as unarable” into two kinds. In plain language:
| Potkharaba Varg A (वर्ग अ) | Potkharaba Varg B (वर्ग ब) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Unfit for agriculture at the time of survey — rocky (खडकाळ) ground, a nala, pits/ditches, quarries, the holder’s farm building or threshing floor (खळे) | Reserved or assigned for public purposes — roads, recognised footpaths, tanks/streams used by others or for drinking and household water, burial/cremation grounds, village potteries |
| Who it belongs to | The holder — it passes with the land on sale | Sits in your survey number, but its use is public: you have no practical right over it |
| Assessment | None, until it is brought under cultivation | None, ever |
| Can you cultivate it? | Yes, anytime — Rule 2(2); crops on it can be recorded at pik pahani (crop inspection) | No — prohibited under Section 43, MLRC 1966, read with Rule 2(3) |
| Exceptions | — | A tank or stream bed used solely for irrigation of the holder’s own land, or where a special cultivation privilege was granted |
| Penalty for misuse | — | The Collector can fine up to ₹1,000 under Rule 7 of the 1968 Rules and summarily evict the user |
| Convertible to lagvadi yogya? | Yes, under the 2018 amendment, once actually cultivated | No |
Section 43 restrictions go beyond ploughing: extracting salt, or removing earth, stone, kankar or murum from agricultural land in a way that spoils it for cultivation, is also regulated — so “mining out” a Varg A quarry patch has its own limits even though cultivating it is free.
The 29 August 2018 GR: cultivated Varg A becomes lagvadi yogya
For decades there was a gap in the rules: a farmer who levelled a rocky Varg A patch and brought it under crop had no way to get the record to say so. The 7/12 kept calling that ground uncultivable, so it was invisible to crop-loan limits, crop insurance, disaster compensation (nuksan bharpai) and acquisition awards — all of which read the cultivable-area figure.
The notification dated 29 August 2018 — No. Sankirn-2018/Pr.Kr.36/J-1A, Revenue and Forest Department, published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette (Extraordinary, Part IV-B) — fixed this by substituting Rule 2(2) of the Maharashtra Land Revenue (Restriction on Use of Land) Rules, 1968, on a proposal from the Jamabandi Commissioner’s office. The effect: Varg A land the holder has actually brought under cultivation is reclassified as लागवडीयोग्य (lagvadi yogya — cultivable) in the revenue record, and a proportionate additional assessment is levied by the Collector on the newly counted area — at the same per-unit rate the rest of the plot already pays. Varg B is untouched by the amendment: public-purpose land stays out of bounds.
How the conversion happens: talathi to tahsildar to Collector’s order
The 2018 GR announced the right; a circular of 19 August 2019 (Bhumapan-3/Vinokr.273/2019, Settlement Commissioner and Director of Land Records, Pune) laid down the working procedure, and an order of 26 October 2020 pushed village-wise lists of survey numbers holding Varg A area into the DDM system on every Talathi login, so much of the drive runs suo motu. The pipeline, condensed:
- Talathi lists every survey/gat number in the village showing Varg A on the 7/12, and publishes a notice (gram sabha or notice board) telling holders an inspection is coming
- Spot verification — the Talathi visits, confirms which Varg A patches are actually under cultivation, and draws up a panchanama with a hand sketch of the cultivated portion
- Village list of eligible survey numbers goes to the Circle Officer (मंडळ अधिकारी), who field-checks at least 10% of the entries
- Tahsildar routes the proposal to the Deputy Superintendent of Land Records, who verifies the original survey maps and measurement registers and computes the revised assessment
- Collector’s order approves the reclassification and levies the proportionate assessment; the land records office issues the कमी जास्त पत्रक (kami jasta patrak — corrected area statement)
- Talathi corrects the record — the Varg A figure shrinks, the lagvadi yogya figure grows, on the 7/12 and Village Form I
If your village’s drive has not reached you, start it yourself: a written application to the Talathi, attaching your current 7/12, stating that the Varg A area (give the figure) is under cultivation and requesting reclassification under the 2018 amendment. Follow up with the Tahsildar’s office — the proposal for assessing Varg A has always moved through the Tahsildar to the Jamabandi Ayukt (Settlement Commissioner) for orders, so the Tahsildar is the desk that can tell you where your file stands. There is no fee prescribed for the reclassification itself; the “cost” is the small additional land revenue you start paying on the converted area — which is precisely what makes the area count.
Buying land with potkharaba: area, price, compensation, NA
Sale area. Sale deeds and agreements recite the total area including potkharaba — you will see wording like “2 H 71 R plus potkharaba 0 H 2 R, total 2 H 73 R”. You are buying the potkharaba too (Varg A passes with the land), but you should price on the usable area. A plot advertised as 5 acres with 1.5 acres of Varg A rock is a 3.5-acre farm with a stone yard attached — and if the potkharaba is Varg B, that portion is effectively not yours to use at all. Pull the 7/12 online before negotiating and read the A/B split, not just the total.
Acquisition compensation. The classification directly moves money. Bombay High Court practice values potkharaba at about 50% of the jirayat (dry-crop) land rate — Special Land Acquisition Officer (III), Jalgaon v. Bhagwat Vithal Sonwane, 2009(4) Mh.L.J. 308, following State of Maharashtra v. Pralhad Bajrang Magar, 1996(1) BCJ 247. If a highway or dam is anywhere on the horizon and your Varg A is under crop, converting it to lagvadi yogya first is the difference between full rate and half rate on that area.
NA and FSI. When agricultural land is converted to non-agricultural use, the NA order and the sanctioned layout work from the plot’s ownership area — Varg A potkharaba is your land and goes into that computation, which is one reason rocky plots near towns still sell well: ground that is poor for jowar can be fine for a warehouse. Varg B, being assigned to public use (often literally the village road), is a different story — expect it to be excluded and treated as existing road/reservation in the layout. Treatment varies with the planning authority, so have the architect confirm the FSI computation on your specific plot before you pay a potkharaba-heavy price for “buildable” land.
Wrong potkharaba entry? Correct it through mojani
Potkharaba figures are among the oldest entries on the 7/12 — many date to the original survey — and mismatches are common: the record shows 20 gunthas of potkharaba where the ground has none, or a nala that shifted decades ago still eats into your cultivable figure. The fix depends on the kind of error:
- Ground reality differs from the record — apply for a government measurement (मोजणी) through the e-mojani portal. The land records office measures the plot against the original survey records, issues the corrected area statement, and the Talathi carries the change onto the 7/12. The e-mojani guide walks through the application, fee slabs and timelines.
- Clerical slip — a mistyped figure that contradicts the village records can be corrected through the Tahsildar under Section 155 of the MLRC without a fresh measurement.
- Cultivated Varg A still shown as potkharaba — that is not an “error” but exactly the 2018-GR conversion case above; use that route, not a correction application.
One caution while you search: several Marathi guides describe “pot kharaba” as splitting a plot among co-owners for separate 7/12s. That process is pot-hissa measurement (पोट हिस्सा मोजणी) — subdivision — a different thing entirely. Potkharaba is a land classification, not a partition.
A-kharab / B-kharab is Karnataka — not Maharashtra
A lot of what ranks for “pot kharab class A class B” is actually about Karnataka, where Rule 21(2) of the rules under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 creates “A-kharab” and “B-kharab” — and where B-kharab vests in the government. Do not carry that conclusion across the border: in Maharashtra the classes come from Rule 2 of the MLR (Restriction on Use of Land) Rules, 1968, Varg A remains the holder’s property, and Varg B — while inside your survey number — is restricted because of its public purpose, not because the state owns your farm’s rocky corner. When a forum answer or an old blog tells you “kharab land belongs to the government, you cannot claim it”, check which state’s law it is reading.
As of 2025-26, the 2018 amendment and the 2019 circular remain the operative framework — we found no later GR superseding them — and the conversion drive begun with the 2020 DDM lists is still the machinery villages use. The practical takeaway hasn’t changed: if your Varg A is under crop and your 7/12 still calls it potkharaba, you are leaving loan limit, insurance cover and compensation money on the table.
Whether you are converting a Varg A patch or buying a plot with a fat potkharaba figure, the record is where the truth lives — and it changes without notice. BhuMe fetches your digitally signed 7/12 from digitalsatbara.mahabhumi.gov.in, reads the lagvadi yogya and potkharaba figures for you, and watches the survey number so a kami-jasta patrak, a ferfar or a fresh notice never slips past you — in Marathi, on WhatsApp.