There
are few directional changes that the proposed
map policy must undertake in its initial take
off/rampup period. Some of the lessons learnt
in other countries are in front of us. As Kampsax
India is associated with the Positional Accuracy
Improvement (PAI) Program of Great Britain I would
like to touch upon some of the available highlights
in public domain as a back drop to the directional
changes referred above. The PAI program is aimed
to improve absolute accuracy of existing maps
(including rural areas) to the level of about
1 meter (RMSE). Most of the existing maps were
based on overhaul mapping from 1950s and subsequent
1996 update. It was also aimed to sell web enabled
digital map to all users across the nation via
Internet. Ordnance Survey that had continued making
losses for 35 years, were converted into Trading
Fund in 1999 with target of 9% return on Capital
employed in 5 years. The target was achieved in
2004 as the PAI program started with 7 consultations
(1997-2000).
The major directional change at that point was
recognition of the fact that greater use of GPS
was essential to survey assets. The PAI Program
started in April 2001 and is due for completion
in early 2006. The sale of maps was started by
Ordnance Survey via their website and through
identifi ed stockists in all major cities. In
FY 02-03 a turnover of Rs 851 crores was achieved
with a loss of Rs 3 crores which turned into profit
in FY 03-04 to the level of Rs 72 crores against
a turnover of Rs 913 crores; the surplus contributing
to meeting target of 9% 5-year Return on Capital
Employed , set by treasury when Ordnance Survey
became a Trading Fund in 1999.
In the Indian context and at this historical moment,
Survey of India need to take the leadership role
as a national agency who shall be the custodian
of one single map (mosaic) of the entire country
that shall provide uniform accuracy of atleast
1 meter for the entire nation. That such a map
shall be updated periodically atleast every 5
years. For urban areas, local civic agencies or
even Survey of India may undertake large scale
mapping which shall provide accuracy levels in
the range of 5-10 cm. Such a step would lead to
5-year mapping program covering 6 lakh Sq-km of
mapping every year that shall require doubling
of existing strength of Survey of India from present
4000 to 8000 level (mainly to undertake quality
control activities), involvement of industry to
undertake matching production deploying 40,000
production staff for a period of 5 years and investment
of about Rs. 2000 crores. Needless to say required
funds would be available from International lending
agencies such as DANIDA, ADB, World Bank etc.
or alternatively from Central Government. In case
Government does not have the funds for such an
important activity, the private sector would be
more than willing to undertake this financing
once request is made public.
Coming to some of the specific issues relating
to the proposed map policy it may be pointed out
that
(1) For value addition to the SOI digital maps,
the essential inputs are Aerial Photographs. This
has not been dealt with in the proposed policy.
Without the availability of aerial photographs
to the private mapping companies and users, the
new map policy will not achieve the desired target.
(2) Map policy should make it mandatory for all
civic authorities, planning bodies, custodian
of cadastral maps and other users of public money
to use this one single map as a means of reducing
conflicts while digging the roads or by judiciary
while deciding the Title of Land to the Poor.
(3) From the List of Map Features given in the
Annexure to the New map Policy, it appears that
the new policy basically deals with smallscale
maps like 1:25,000 / 1:50,000 / 1:250,000. These
small scales will not serve the purpose of most
of the users of geo-spatial data both in Government,
Industry and public.
(4) There is an urgent requirement of making the
maps of the entire country available at scale
as large as 1:2,500 providing uniform 1- meter
accuracy across the nation. For mapping on this
scale, the list of features should include atleast
1000 features of interest, 78 of which are listed
in Annexure – 1 to this note as a starting
point.
(5) From the New Map Policy, it appears that the
Open Series Maps produced by SOI will remain tile-based
as before. The World is moving toward ‘Seamless
Data’ or one single mosaic of the entire
nation. This concept should be incorporated in
the new policy as a starting point.
Recommendation of features for inclusion in open
series public domain (large scale) maps
S.N. Major Details
1 Academy ( School, College)
2 Adventure playground
3 Aerating Tower
4 Aerial Ropeway
5 Aerodrome
6 Aerodrome (disused)
7 Afforested Area
8 Agricultural Land
9 Airport
10 Airport (disused)
11 Allotment gardens
12 Amusement Park
13 Archway
14 Barn
15 Barrage or Barrier (water)
16 Barrier (road)
17 Beach Hut
18 Bird Sanctuary
19 Boating Lake/Pond
20 Bridge
21 Bungalow
22 Bus Depot/Garage
23 Business Park
24 Buildings
25 Bus Stop
26 Bypass
27 Canal (irrigation)
28 Car Park
29 Cemetery
30 Coastal Slope
31 University
32 Communication Mast
33 Community Centre
34 Complex Multilevel Structure
35 Culvert
36 Electricity Pole/Tower
37 Electricity Pylon
38 Electricity Sub-station
39 Electricity Transmission
Line Network
40 Farm
41 Fence
42 Fire Station
43 Flyover
44 Gas Distribution Station
45 Zoological Gardens
46 Guidepost
47 Hall
48 Harbour
49 Helipad
50 Issues
51 Jetty
52 Lay-by
53 Level Crossing
54 Library (public)
55 Park (public)
56 Pavement
57 Pump House
58 Quarry
59 Racecourse
60 Radar Station
61 Radio Station
62 Recycling Centre/Depot
63 Reservoir
64 Roundabout
65 Sea Wall
66 Sewage Farm/Works
67 Sewage Pumping Station
68 Slipway
69 Slopes (artifi cial)
70 Slopes (natural)
71 Sluice/Sluice-gate
72 Sports Centre
73 Stadium
74 Subway
75 Tank
76 Telephone Exchange
77 Television Mast
78 Toll Gate
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