How do we know that a tilted-looking map has been drawn to zero degrees North?
Open the location in Google Earth with North set at the top and compare. If the plan looks identical, it is drawn at zero degrees and is zoned without rotating the chakra; about 90 percent of such tilted maps are drawn that way. If in doubt, rotate the map until one straight side is straight and take the tilt from that side.
Related questions
A client's location shows coordinates. What do I do with them?
Copy them and paste them into the Google Earth search bar, which takes you to the place. Then draw a straight line along a wall of the building to get the degree. A degree taken from the centre is wrong; the centre only tells you which direction a room is in.
A regular plot has small strips of land left open at the side and the front. Do we leave them out or zone the complete plot?
Zone the complete plot. Almost the whole plot is in use and even the small strips are being used, so the full plot is taken for zoning and for the degree.
At what degree do the corner directions (vidisha) fall?
North-East, South-East, South-West and North-West fall exactly 45 degrees from the main directions. Where they fall in your own flat becomes clear once you do the zoning.
Can the Google Earth method be done on a phone?
Google Earth with the ruler works only on a laptop or PC. On a phone you can use a photo editing app instead: take the chakra image in PNG form, ask the client for a photo of the map and overlay the chakra on it, which needs some photo editing skill.
Does everything taught today also apply to an apartment or flat, or only to a kothi?
Everything taught today applies to flats as well, except bhoomi vibhajan. In a flat it is already done: the space left around the building during construction is its Pishach bhoomi. Ati marma, zoning and directions all apply inside the flat.
Does zoning work differently for plots in hilly areas?
No. Zoning is done the same way everywhere; only the measured tilt differs, and it has to be taken for each site.