DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22459#0180
Two
May 4, 1952
iHimainuttu
INDIA GOES MAP MINDED
In post-independent India, there
are sings that the people are getting
increasingly map minded. Figures avail-
able from the Map Directorate of the
Survey of India show that in 1950-51
there were about 22,000 enquiries,
including orders for maps, and in 1951-52
these increased to 22,374. Demands in
previous years were much less. Another
tendency clearly discernible is the growing
demand for language maps, especially
in Hindi.
Even among maps there are best-
sellers. The current best seller of the
Production Directorate is their newest
effort in colour of a detailed map of
India on a 40 mile-to-an-inch scale
recently released. Among the other
best sellers are the road map of India and
the railway map of India-in that order.
Earlier, when India became indepen-
dent, the map containing the political
divisions of the new Republic proved a
quick seller. Over 20,000 copies of this
found a home, most of it going to
individual indenlors.
As in any other country, the vast
bulk of map production goes for the
use ot the army. Smail orders, too, are
received from foreign countries, especially
America, Japan and Switzerland. One
interesting iactor about those foreign
orders is that the}' relate mainly to
maps covering the great mountain ranges
of the Himalayas A possible explanation
is the lure of the Himalayas for the
foreign 'tourist.
r
I'he income from the sale of maps
is not negligible. During the last three
years the average annual sales have
touched about Rs.IO lakhs.
I he Map Directorate undertakes
commercial work on behalf of plicate
parties. Under this head so far they
have produced maps in four Indian
iltmc*
languages-Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi and
Bengali.
Ancient and historical maps of
India are kept in the Record Room c f
the Directorate. Among them are a
drawing of the Red Fort- of Delhi with
Jumna flowing close by. almost washing
its walls. Anuther displays the plan of
the British position in Delhi maintained
during the days of the first war of
Indian independence, from June 8 to
' eptember 14,1857. There are over
10.000 historical maps in the Record
Room.
Most of the mapping dono by
the Directorate is still by the well-tried
methods of triangulation, theodolite and
plane table. The plane table, a surveying
instrument for direct plotting, was
first used in India in 1799 in Mysore.
Even today it holds the field.
Recently, aerial photography has
come to tlie help of mapping. This has
some advantages over the purely ground
surveys. Specially equipped planes fly
at a height of about J0,000 ft. over
the particular territory which has to
be mapped.
Automatic cameras take photographs
of strips of land ut regular intervals, an
overlap of b0 per cent being maintained
as between one strip of a map and
another. After tne run between two
points, the plane turn** back and does
another run with an overlap of 25 per
cent in the same direction as the
fust run.
About 1,000 individual strips finally
form a mosaic which give the whole
of the area. The obvious advantage of
aerial photopraphy is that it gives more
details than ground plotting with less
manual labour.
The Map Directorate is technically
well-equipped for dealing with map-
(Conlijiueil on page 9:
May 4, 1952
iHimainuttu
INDIA GOES MAP MINDED
In post-independent India, there
are sings that the people are getting
increasingly map minded. Figures avail-
able from the Map Directorate of the
Survey of India show that in 1950-51
there were about 22,000 enquiries,
including orders for maps, and in 1951-52
these increased to 22,374. Demands in
previous years were much less. Another
tendency clearly discernible is the growing
demand for language maps, especially
in Hindi.
Even among maps there are best-
sellers. The current best seller of the
Production Directorate is their newest
effort in colour of a detailed map of
India on a 40 mile-to-an-inch scale
recently released. Among the other
best sellers are the road map of India and
the railway map of India-in that order.
Earlier, when India became indepen-
dent, the map containing the political
divisions of the new Republic proved a
quick seller. Over 20,000 copies of this
found a home, most of it going to
individual indenlors.
As in any other country, the vast
bulk of map production goes for the
use ot the army. Smail orders, too, are
received from foreign countries, especially
America, Japan and Switzerland. One
interesting iactor about those foreign
orders is that the}' relate mainly to
maps covering the great mountain ranges
of the Himalayas A possible explanation
is the lure of the Himalayas for the
foreign 'tourist.
r
I'he income from the sale of maps
is not negligible. During the last three
years the average annual sales have
touched about Rs.IO lakhs.
I he Map Directorate undertakes
commercial work on behalf of plicate
parties. Under this head so far they
have produced maps in four Indian
iltmc*
languages-Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi and
Bengali.
Ancient and historical maps of
India are kept in the Record Room c f
the Directorate. Among them are a
drawing of the Red Fort- of Delhi with
Jumna flowing close by. almost washing
its walls. Anuther displays the plan of
the British position in Delhi maintained
during the days of the first war of
Indian independence, from June 8 to
' eptember 14,1857. There are over
10.000 historical maps in the Record
Room.
Most of the mapping dono by
the Directorate is still by the well-tried
methods of triangulation, theodolite and
plane table. The plane table, a surveying
instrument for direct plotting, was
first used in India in 1799 in Mysore.
Even today it holds the field.
Recently, aerial photography has
come to tlie help of mapping. This has
some advantages over the purely ground
surveys. Specially equipped planes fly
at a height of about J0,000 ft. over
the particular territory which has to
be mapped.
Automatic cameras take photographs
of strips of land ut regular intervals, an
overlap of b0 per cent being maintained
as between one strip of a map and
another. After tne run between two
points, the plane turn** back and does
another run with an overlap of 25 per
cent in the same direction as the
fust run.
About 1,000 individual strips finally
form a mosaic which give the whole
of the area. The obvious advantage of
aerial photopraphy is that it gives more
details than ground plotting with less
manual labour.
The Map Directorate is technically
well-equipped for dealing with map-
(Conlijiueil on page 9: