History
The history of the Survey of India dates back to the 18th Century. Forerunners of army of the East India Company and sometimes in its wake Surveyors had onerous task of exploring the unknown. Bit by bit the tapestry of Indian terrain was completed by the painstaking efforts of a distinguished line of Surveyors such as Mr. William Lambton and Sir George Everest. It is a tribute to the foresight of such Surveyors that at the time of independence the country inherited a survey network built on scientific principles. The great trigonometric series spanning the country from North to South & East to West are some of the best geodetic control series available in the world. The scientific principles of surveying have since been augmented by the latest technology to meet the multi- disciplinary requirement of data from planners and scientists.
Organized into only 5 Directorates in 1950, mainly to look after the mapping needs of Defence Forces in North West and North East, the Department has now grown into 18 Directorates spread in all parts of the country to provide the basic map coverage required for the development of the country. Its technology, latest in the world, has been oriented to meet the needs of defense forces, planners and scientists in the field of geo-sciences, land and resource management. Its expert advice is being utilized by various Ministries and undertakings of Government of India in many sensitive areas including settlement of international borders, State boundaries and in assisting planned development of hitherto under developed areas.
Faced with the requirement of digital topographical data, the department has created three Digital centers during late eighties to generate Digital Topographical Data Base for the entire country for use in various planning process and creation of geographic information system. Its specialized Directorates such as Geodetic and Research Branch, Research & Development Directorate and Survey Training Institute have been further strengthened to meet the growing requirement of users community. The department is also assisting in many scientific programmes of the nation related to the field of geo-physics, remote sensing and digital data transfers.
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