However, 1:1 million World aeronautical charts and International maps of the world (Carte Internationalé du Monde), including that of J&K, sold by SoI are exempted. Is it because such maps are freely available abroad and form part of a global system? For example, the US Army Map Service has covered the whole of India, including the mountainous regions, on maps on a scale as large as 1:25,000. Detailed maps of the western Karakoram glaciers have been published in Italy (1:500,000 scale) and Germany (1:450,000 scale).

These restrictions hamper the efforts of many people, agencies and institutions engaged in developmental work and scientific research. Earth scientists are specially hampered because numerous regions in the restricted zone happen to be geologically important. They cannot easily obtain the standard 1:50,000 scale topographic sheets – not to speak of sheets on a larger scale –that are normal for geological mapping and other investigations.

Another arm of the Government of India, the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), freely sells detailed imageries not only covering India but also adjoining territories; these include areas that fall under SoI ‘restricted’ categories. These imageries have a resolution of 5.2 to 5.8 m. This means that objects even as small as a truck on the ground can be identified. Also, the height of any topographic feature or object can be calculated thereform, making the prohibition of depicting contours on maps of certain domains redundant. On the other hand, the largest standard topographic sheet produced by SoI is on the 1:250,000 scale with contour interval of 10 m. This shows only broad topographic features, and even a small village is depicted not larger than a dot. Then, what is the rationale of SoI to restrict sale of numerous maps on scales larger than 1:1 million?

The policies of SoI and NRSA contradict each other though both are Central Government organizations. Is SoI, carrying the burden of its hoary old age of 232 years (established in the year of grace 1767) so hidebound that it is unable to shake off its antediluvian outlook?

The geological maps of the ‘restricted’ areas published by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) are also restricted because they are based on SoI maps.

Also in SoI, all topographic sheets on scales larger than one-fourth inch or more equal to a mile come stamped with the injunction ‘not for export’. The obvious intention is that the maps should not be taken out of India. The rationale behind this rule is also questionable, when foreign agencies have published maps of these areas for open distribution.

While SoI will not allow its maps to go out of the country, NRSA sells freely the imageries, tapes and maps the world over, earning valuable foreign exchange. As a global player in this field, it offers quite a competition to NASA, America, in providing satellite photographs and data.

Foreign agencies publish maps of India without obtaining the permission of the Surveyor General of India. For example, bathymetric Admiralty maps of the seas surrounding the Indian coast for navigation purposes, are available from a firm in Calcutta (possibly from other sources as well in India) issued by a foreign organization, obviously without the mandatory approval of the coastal features by the Survey.

In the interest of not only geological investigations but of scientific research and overall development as well, it is urged that the Government remove the irrational classification of restricted maps, and make available freely all maps issued by SoI.

S. M. Mathur lives at B-15, Alokpuri, Ravindrapalli, Lucknow 226 016, India.