Maps that get down to detail

URBAN LANDSCAPES change rapidly and, sometimes, go out of shape. Chennai, considered a conservative city in certain quarters, has witnessed physical changes in recent years that have left people awe-struck.

To enable people keep track of such changes, an elaborate city map has been brought out by a corporate group, covering an area of 600 sq. km. and providing information on the fringes such as Puzhal, Old Perungalathur and Mangadu.

The map, contains minute details such as individual house numbers in some cases, covers 39 categories including restaurants, educational institutions, banks/ATMs, roads, parks, markets and industries with 14,700 index items.

Prepared with the help of digital cartography, it has 128 map pages and four key-to-map pages together with a folded ``route planner''.

It has information even on the width of roads and can be scaled.

Despite having minute details regarding different aspects of the city life, the map has been designed in a ``user- friendly'' way, says Lt. Gen. (retd.) S.M. Chadha, advisor of the Eicher Goodearth, the publishers.

Five years ago, this corporate group produced a map for Delhi whose second edition is also now out.

``The Chennai map caters to needs of different segments of society such residential and industrial sectors. Of course, tourists can explore the city through our map,'' observes Lt. Gen. Chadha, former Surveyor General of India.

Four years of work have gone into the production of the map. Though high resolution satellite imagery was used as one of the inputs, systematic and extensive ground surveys were carried out to ensure authenticity of the map.

``As your city is a shy city (meaning that cloudy skies prevented the satellite from taking a clear picture), it took us nearly a year to have it,'' he says.

The cost of the Chennai map project was around Rs. 50 lakhs, which did not include the cost for printing and publishing.

Priced at Rs. 200, the map will be available in bookshops and general stores.

Explaining the reasoning behind his group's interest in publishing maps, Mr. S. Sandilya, Chairman of the Eicher Group, says his organisation is in the business of manufacturing automobiles and his clients, for navigating one city or the other, need maps.

The corporate group, which has secured security permission for publishing maps on Mumbai and Bangalore, has applied for Kolkata.

As for getting information from different agencies, the team, which was associated with the production of the map, did face difficulties that any researcher undergoes.

``Our culture has, unfortunately, been not to part with information'', the former Surveyor General says.

A unique feature that is encountered in producing maps is that one should be conscious of ``security consideration''. If one breaks this `code', the blame may be laid on the person that he or she has caused jeopardy to the security of the country.

But, technology has developed to such an extent that one can no longer stick on to the old habit. ``In the U.S., you can get a one-metre resolution photography of an area. Why not here,'' wonders Lt. Gen. Chadha.

By T. Ramakrishnan

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Section  : Southern States
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