National Map Policy 2005
Topic: Maps and Map Scale · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The National Map Policy 2005 created two separate series of Survey of India maps. Defence Series Maps show full detail and are meant for the armed forces. Open Series Maps are for the public and for development work, and sensitive features are removed from them. Open Series Maps use the WGS-84 datum, the same model of the earth's shape that GPS uses. They are drawn on the UTM projection, a standard way of showing the curved earth on flat sheets. So the public can get useful maps without putting national security at risk.
Example
A town-planning team in Pune, Maharashtra, can buy Open Series toposheets of the city and the area around it. They use these sheets to plan roads and water supply. Their GPS readings match the sheets because both use WGS-84.
Don't confuse with
- Guidelines for Acquiring and Producing Geospatial Data (February 2021): these came from the Department of Science and Technology (DST). They removed the need for prior approval before Indian entities could make maps, except for a negative list of sensitive items. The 2005 policy only created the two Survey of India map series.