How to read a Nepali naksa
Kitta numbers, boundaries, scale bars and what to do when the drawing has no scale printed on it at all.
A naksa is a survey drawing showing land parcels and their boundaries. Most people meet one when buying land or applying for a building permit, and most of it is readable once you know what the four main elements are.
Kitta numbers
Every parcel carries a kitta number — its identifier in the survey record. That number ties the drawing to the ownership record, and it is what you quote at the land revenue office. Neighbouring parcels carry their own numbers, so the sheet is a patchwork of numbered shapes. The official way to request a digital copy of that sheet is Mero Kitta. If you only have the number and want to retrieve the record, see Mero Kitta number check online.
Boundaries
Solid lines are parcel boundaries. Where a boundary follows a road, a canal or a river, the drawing usually shows that feature too. A boundary that has been subdivided often appears as a newer, thinner line cutting an older parcel in two.
The scale
The scale tells you how a distance on paper relates to a distance on the ground. A 1:500 naksa means one centimetre on paper is 500 centimetres — five metres — on the ground.
| Scale | 1 cm on paper | 1 inch on paper |
|---|---|---|
| 1:100 | 1 m | 8.33 ft |
| 1:200 | 2 m | 16.67 ft |
| 1:500 | 5 m | 41.67 ft |
| 1:1000 | 10 m | 83.33 ft |
| 1:1250 | 12.5 m | 104.17 ft |
| 1:2500 | 25 m | 208.33 ft |
A printed scale is only reliable on the original sheet. Photocopies, screenshots and phone photos are all resized, so the printed scale no longer matches what you are holding. Calibrate against a known length instead.
When there is no scale
Plenty of naksa copies arrive with no usable scale. You can still measure them, as long as you can identify one real distance somewhere on the drawing:
- A dimension written along a boundary.
- A road width — local roads are often a known standard.
- A wall or boundary you can go and measure with a tape.
- An adjoining parcel whose area you already know.
Any one of those anchors the whole drawing. Tap its two ends, enter the real length, and every other distance follows.
Checking your work
After calibrating, look at an edge whose length is printed on the naksa and compare it with the length the tool shows. If they agree, the calibration is sound. If they are out by a consistent factor, you have probably mixed up a paper measurement with a ground measurement.
