Alluvial Land — Alluvion and Diluvion — Land Law Notes

Alluvial Land — Alluvion and Diluvion

Rivers are restless neighbours. Over years a river shifts its course, silting up land on one bank and eating away the field on the other. One farmer wakes up with more land than he had; another finds his field washed into the current. The law has to answer a simple question: who owns the land the river gives, and who pays revenue on the land the river takes? The KLR Act deals with these two mirror-image events — alluvion and diluvion — in sections 81 and 82.

What alluvion and diluvion mean

Take the two Latin-rooted terms plainly:

Alluvion — land gradually added to a holding by the deposit of silt by a river or the sea (the field grows).
Diluvion — land gradually lost to a holding by the erosion or encroachment of a river or the sea (the field shrinks).

The KLR Act’s treatment (ss. 81–82, read with s. 92):

Alluvial land and its liability (s. 81). Land gained by alluvion (and newly-formed islands and abandoned river-beds) is liable to land revenue. But the holder of the adjoining land is allowed the temporary use of a small accretion — up to one acre — as part of his holding; where the accretion exceeds one acre, that excess is at the disposal of the Deputy Commissioner (it belongs to the State, s. 67).
Remission of assessment on diluvion (s. 82). Where land is lost by diluvion, the holder gets a remission (reduction) of the assessment proportionate to the land washed away — he should not keep paying revenue on a field the river has taken.
Grant of alluvial land vested in Government (s. 92). Alluvial land that vests in the Government (the excess beyond one acre) may be granted to a person on the prescribed conditions.

Quick orientation on the 6W:

Who — the adjoining holder (for small accretions and remission); the Deputy Commissioner / State for larger accretions.
What — the revenue treatment of land gained (alluvion) or lost (diluvion) to a river.
When — on gradual accretion or erosion of a holding.
Where — riparian holdings, river-beds, newly-formed islands.
Why — to tax new land fairly and to relieve a holder of revenue on land he has lost.
How — small accretion (up to one acre) used by the holder and assessed (s. 81); larger accretion to the DC/State (ss. 81, 92); proportionate remission on loss (s. 82).

Section 82, KLR Act, 1964 (substance): “Where any land … is lost by diluvion, the Deputy Commissioner shall … grant a remission of the assessment … proportionate to the area of the land so lost.”

In Simple Terms: If the river gives you a little land, you may use it and it is assessed to revenue; if the river gives a lot, the surplus belongs to the State. And if the river takes your land away, the Act cuts your revenue by the share you have lost — you do not pay tax on a field that is now under water.

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — the river gives and the river takes

Facts. A river deposits 0.5 acre of silt onto L’s riverside field and, the same year, erodes 1 acre from M’s field a little downstream.

Rule. Alluvion up to one acre may be used by the adjoining holder and is liable to land revenue; alluvion beyond one acre is at the disposal of the Deputy Commissioner (s. 81). Diluvion entitles the holder to a proportionate remission of assessment (s. 82).

Apply. L’s 0.5-acre accretion is within the one-acre limit, so L may use it as part of his holding, subject to land revenue (s. 81). M, who has lost one acre to erosion, is entitled to a remission of assessment proportionate to that acre (s. 82) — his revenue is reduced accordingly.

Conclusion. L keeps and pays on his small gain; M’s revenue is cut for his loss — the mirror-image rules of ss. 81 and 82 at work.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["River changes the land"]:::root
    ROOT --> AL["ALLUVION<br/>land gained by silt deposit"]:::leaf
    AL --> AL1["s.81 up to 1 acre:<br/>holder's temporary use, liable to revenue"]:::leaf
    AL --> AL2["s.81 beyond 1 acre:<br/>at disposal of Deputy Commissioner (State)"]:::leaf
    AL2 --> AL3["s.92 may be granted on conditions"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> DI["DILUVION<br/>land lost by erosion"]:::leaf
    DI --> DI1["s.82 proportionate REMISSION<br/>of assessment"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Case Laws

State of Karnataka vs Shankara Textiles Mills Ltd. (1995) — the character and revenue treatment of land are governed by the KLR Act’s own machinery; the same statutory scheme that fixes assessment (s. 83) governs the assessment of alluvial gains and the remission for diluvial losses.

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