INTRODUCTION TO TOPOSHEETS-45D/7 AND

45D/10
PROFILE OF SURVEY
MAP 45 D/7
DESCRIPTION of the Area covered by Survey
Sheet No. 45 D/7 (Gujarat and Rajasthan)
District : Banas Kantha and Sirohi
Location: Latitude 24 degrees 15
24 degrees 30 North
Longitude 72 degrees 15 72degrees 30 East
This region lies in western India on the
borders of Rajasthan and Gujarat at the
southern end of the Aravalli Hills,
immediately north-east of Sheet 45 D/10.

RELIEF

The area is mainly a plain except for:

1. The east central region where the hills rise
to almost 500 m.,
2. The lower hills of the north-east corner.
The slope of the land is from north-east to
south-west in the northern half and east to

west in the southern portion of the map.

(indicated by flow of rivers)

DRAINAGE
1. The Banas river (not to be confused with
the Banas river which is a tributary of the
Chambal river to the north) flows into the
swampland area of the Little Rann, north-east
of the Gulf of Kutch. On this survey sheet it
flows westward. It has two main right bank
tributaries Sarod and Arado Nadis and the
numerous smaller streams like the one
entering the river near Chekla (8192). The
only left bank tributary is the Balaram Nadi
from the south-east. The Banas river varies in
width from 1/4km to over 1 km and has a
narrow perennial water course. The dry
portion fills in during the rainy seas.
2. The Sipu Nadi is a tributary of the Banas
river (the confluence) lying to the west of the
area shown. It flows from north-east to
south-west withits two main tributaries
Varka and Mahadeviyao Nadis joining the left
bank. Both rise in the hilly region to the east.
In the region there are numerous other

streams that join main rivers. They rise in the

higher ground adjacent to the rivers and
invariably their courses show large tracts of
broken ground indicating soft soil easily
eroded by water.

SOILS
Map symbols indicate desert conditions, a
large part of the plain area being sandy. Soils
are soft as shown by excessive erosion
causing broken ground near water courses.

CLIMATE

There are three climatic seasons:

Summer-- hot and dry-- March to June
Monsoon-- hot and wet --July to September
Winter-- cool and dry --October to February
Maximum temperatures in summer are
extremely high rising to over 470 C, while
minimum temperatures in December/Jan
often drops to almost 0 degree C. Because of
its location in western India, it receives
comparatively less rainfall than other parts of
the country. The rainfall which is between 50
to 100 cm annually, falls during the monsoon
season. High temperatures cause excessive

evaporation. This gives rise to scrub and

semi-desert vegetation.

NATURAL
VEGETATION
Hill areas dry deciduous forests of small
trees
Plains scrub and throny trees where there
is no agriculture.

IRRIGATION
This region is dependent on the periodic
rainfall (Monsoon), tanks, wells for
agriculture. There is only one canal in the
north-east starting from the reservoir (2222)

OCCUPATIONS
Agriculture, rearing of cattle, sheep, camels
and horses.
CROPS: Winter (Rabi) Wheat, Barley, Cotton
Monsoons (Kharif) Bajra, Jowar,
Maize

COMMUNICATIONS

Except for the main line of the Western

Railway and the road that runs across the
south-east corner of the map through
Chitrasani (8923), there are no other
important communications. All other
settlements are linked by cart tracks.

SETTLEMENTS

Except for Chitrasani which is a rail/road

centre, all the settlements are small and
widely scattered chiefly in the lowland area
and are either nucleated or dispersed in
pattern.

PROFILE OF SURVEY MAP 45 D/10

DESCRIPTION of the Area covered by Survey
Sheet No. 45 D/10 (Gujarat and Rajasthan)
District : Banas Kantha and Sirohi
Location: Latitude 24 degrees 30 24
degrees 45 North
Longitude 72 degrees 30 - 72
degrees 45 East

This region lies in western India on the

borders of Rajasthan and Gujarat at the
southern end of the Aravalli Hills,
immediately north-east of Sheet 45 D/7.

RELIEF
The sheet is divided into two distinct physical
divisions:
1. The Aravalli Hills rising to a height of over
1400 meters and occupying the south-east
corner. The ranges are more or less parallel
and run in a NE to SW directon.
2. A large plain covers the remaining portion
of the sheet. There are frequent outcrops of
rocky ground, some of it rising to over 400 m
(i.e. 100 m above the surrounding country
side.)

DRAINAGE

In the hill area, the drainage is radial. Abu

being the highest point of the area is the
centre from which the rivers radiate. In the
plains, the upper courses of the rivers are
dendritic or fan shaped. The main stream
Sipu Nadi rises in the hills north of Abu and

flows in a south-west direction. It is periodic

and seldom exceeds km in width.
TRIBUTARIES: Right bank : Sukli Nadi, Unda
Wala, Dior Nadi,
Left bank: Sukli Nadi, unnamed river flowing
past Dhavli, Devengan Nadi and Godua Nadi
NOTE:
1. There are three Sukli Nadis in the survey
sheet.
2. Because this regions lies close to the
desert areas where the soils tend to break up
easily, the water courses are numerous and
well defined for they are able to cut channels
in the soft sandy soils. They are however
periodic and rely on the rainy season for the
water supply.

CLIMATE

There are three climatic seasons:

Summer-- hot and dry --March to June
Monsoon --hot and wet-- July to September
Winter-- cool and dry --October to February
Maximum temperatures in summer are

extremely high rising to over 470 C, while

minimum temperatures in December/January
often drops to almost 0 degree C. Because of
its location in western India, it receives
comparatively less rainfall than other parts of
the country. The rainfall which is between 50
to 100 cm annually, falls during the monsoon
season. High temperatures cause excessive
evaporation. This gives rise to scrub and
semi-desert vegetation.

NATURAL VEGETATION

Hill areas dry deciduous forests of small

trees
Plains scrub and throny trees where there
is no agriculture.

IRRIGATION
This region is dependent on the periodic
rainfall (Monsoon), tanks, wells for
agriculture. There is only one canal in the
north-east starting from the reservoir (2222)

OCCUPATION
Agriculture, rearing of cattle, sheep, camels
and horses.

CROPS: Winter (Rabi) Wheat, Barley, Cotton

Monsoons (Kharif) Bajra, Jowar,
Maize

COMMUNICATIONS
Abu, in the hill area, is linked eastwards by
two main roads, which run south-east to Abu
Road and north-east to Oriya. In the south of
this region the east-west main road links up
at Karaunti (0700) with another main road
which runs parallel to the foot-hills and
connects a number of settlemtns. Many of the
smaller settlements are linked by cart tracks.

SETTLEMENTS

Abu is a large hill resort, an administrative

and an educational centre. In the plains,
there are numerous settlements of much
smaller size of which Sirori (2023) is the
most important.

Important Definitions on Topographical Maps

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
FROM TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS
REPRESENTATIVE FRACTION (RF): It is the ratio between the distances on the map to
its corresponding distance on actual ground. The RF on this map is 1:50,000.
2. SCALE : Scale is the ratio between the distance of any two points on the map and
the actual distance of the same points on the ground.
The scale of the given map extract is 2 cm: 1 km or 1:50,000.
3. CONTOUR: Contours are imaginary lines drawn on maps, joining all places with the
same height above sea level.
4. CONTOUR INTERVAL: The interval between two consecutive contours is called
contour interval (*it is a constant 20 mts in your toposheets.)
5. INDEX CONTOUR: Contour lines are thickened at regular intervals to make it easier
to read contours. For example at every 100 mts the contour line is made darker. The
darker lines are called Index Contours.
6. TRIANGULATED HEIGHT: It is the height of a place which has been calculated using
trigonometry, represented by a small triangle e.g. - 540
7. SPOT HEIGHT: The height of random places between contours shown with a dot. Eg .425
8. BENCH MARK - Height of a place actually marked on a stone pillar, rock or shown on
a building as a permanent reference. It is written as BM 200 m.
9. RELATIVE HEIGHT: Relative height is the height of a feature with reference to the
height of the surrounding land and NOT to sea level.
It is represented by the height with a small r eg 12r.
10. ROCK OUTCROP: It is a portion of rock jutting above the surface of the earth.
11. SHEET ROCK: Large areas of rock where the overlying soil layers have been eroded
and removed due to mechanical weathering.
9 STONY WASTE : A large area usually in arid/semi arid regions where the finer
sand/soil has blown away leaving a surface covered with boulders, stones and pebbles.

10. BROKEN GROUND: A relief feature found mostly in dry regions around rivers and
streams. It is land around river, which is totally
weathered (exfoliated) due to alternate cooling and heating.
11. FIRELINE: A cleared pathway in a forest to prevent the spread of forest fires.
12. MIXED FOREST: A forest with more than two varieties of trees growing in close
proximity to each other.
13. OPEN JUNGLE: A forest where trees are widely scattered.
14. DENSE JUNGLE. : A forest where trees grow very close to each other.
15. OPEN SCRUB: Scrub is a vegetation found in regions with less than
100 cms of rainfall. Therefore it indicates a dry region.
16. BRACKISH: It is a well, which has water with very high salt content generally unfit
for drinking purposes.
17. CAUSEWAY: It is a raised road over a small water body. (Usually a road used only in
the non rainy months.}
18. CUTTING: A portion of land, which has been cut in order to make land available for
transport routes. (it is indicative of a rocky region)
19. EMBANKMENT: They are raised rock or soil filled constructions on which
roads/railway tracks are built. Also made near tanks and rivers to prevent flooding.
20. FORM LINES: Form lines are contour lines, but show only approximate heights
above sea level as they are used to indicate the elevations of the area which are not
accessible for proper survey. Hence they are drawn as broken lines and are called
'form lines'.
21. Q.C. Q.D., OC, OD,PQ, ETC : These are alphabetical codes used to represent the
biggest grid sq. of 10,000 square kms.
The Govt of India has adopted metric system for all measurements. All the ordnace
survey maps issued by the Survey of India were drawn to the scale 2 cm = 1 km. In this
system , the surveyed territory is divided into 100km X 100 km squares, and each
square is denoted by English alphabets. for example, OC, OD, PQ, PG, etc . This system
of map drawing is known as National Grid Reference.
22. LAYER TINTING: (colouring)
While spot heights show the height of the land, they only do so at certain points. To
provide an overall image which conveyed height, a technique called layer tinting was
developed. Layer tinting uses different colours (or shades) to represent different
heights. It is a mapping convention for darker colours to signify greater height. When
using layer tinting, green is often used for low land, yellow for higher land and brown

for the highest land.

Layer tinting is most commonly found on physical maps. While layer tinting is useful, it
does not show the detailed shape of the land.
23. DEP: It is a depression often found in sandy areas where the wind, having blown
away the sand, leaves a hollow or a depression.
24. HACHURING: Early cartographers attempted to show surface features on maps by
using the technique of hachuring. Hachures use short lines of varying thickness to show
the shape and slope of the land. In accordance with this technique, the steeper the
slope is, the thicker the lines are which represent it. While hachuring was initially
innovative for its time, it gradually began to be replaced since the actual height of the
land was not depicted.
25. LIME KILN OR BRICK KILN: These are open furnaces where limestone is purified or
bricks are baked for construction purpose.
26. HILL SHADING: Hill shading resembles a light and shadow effect. Valleys and the
sides of mountains appear as though they are cast in shadow. This is a visually striking
method, which is ideal for providing an overall view of the relief of an area. Hill
shading, however, does not show height which means that it is no more accurate than
hachuring.

Significance of colour on Toposheets

SIGNIFICANCE OF COLOURS IN TOPOSHEETS
On toposheets colours are used to show certain features. Each colour
used on a map has significance.
1. BLACK All names, river banks, broken ground, dry streams,
surveyed trees, heights and their numbering, railway lines, telephone
and telegraph lines, lines of latitude and longitude
2. BLUE Water features or water bodies that contain water.
3. GREEN All wooded and forested areas, orchards, scattered trees
and scrubs.
Note:- Prominent surveyed trees are shown in black. Surveyed trees
have numbers on their trunks. They serve as landmarks and are not
allowed to be cut.
4. YELLOW All cultivated areas are shown with a yellow wash.
5. WHITE PATCHES Uncultivable land
6. BROWN Contour lines, their numbering, form lines, and sand
features such as sand hills and dunes
7. RED Grid lines (eastings and northhings) and their numbering,
roads, cart tracks, settlements, huts and buildings.
SETTLEMENTS
1. On a topo map, all settlements are shown by symbols in RED colour.
2. The size of the symbol and size and style of letters used give an
idea of the size of the settlement.
3. In the case of large cities, major roads are marked and named.
4. Deserted village cities, temporarily occupied huts are also shown.
5. Places of worship, forts, water towers, burial grounds, police
stations, post office, dak bungalow, circuit houses, etc. are indicated
by suitable symbols.
NOTE Site is the land on which the settlement (village or town) is
built.
Dense settlements : Fertile plains and wide river valleys.
Sparse Settlements : forests, deserts, mountain slopes, plateaus and
hill tops with poor vegetation
Absence of Settlements: Swamps, marsh land, sandy deserts, thick
impenetrable forests, flood-prone areas, steep mountain slopes.
OCCUPATION AND MAP FEATURES

AGRICULTURE Level land with yellow wash; many wells

LUMBERING: Forests
CATTLE REARING Pastures, meadows, grasslands, presence of road in
highland region (sheep)
FISHING Plenty of rivers
MINING Stony wastes, quaries, limestone beds
TRADE Dense settlements near road
INDUSTRY Large settlements near roads and railways, presence of
raw materials, (like making, cement industry near limestone beds)
TOURISM hotels and inns
APPROXIMATE OR RELATIVE HEIGHT
This height is not taken from sea level but with respect to the
surrounding area. It may be the height of a dam, bridge, sand dune or
it can be the depth of a well, tank, hill or river canal, for example , 3r,
5r, 8r, etc.
EXAMPLE:
3r - the relative depth of perennial lined well in 3 metres 3r
5r the relative height of dry tank is 5 metres 5r
NOTE: CHECK THE SYMBOL if it is tank, dam, bridge, embankment,
etc then write the answer this way - the relative height of
.............................. is ................meters.

Other Interpretations on Topographical Maps

Man-made and Natural Features
Toposheets shows various details of an area- natural and man made

features by means of conventional signs(legends), contours and pictorial

diagrams in conventional colours.
Natural features rivers, streams, sand features, trees, broken
grounds, natural ponds, unlined wells, jungles, depresions (Dep), islands
(in the exposed river beds), physical features like hills, waterfalls,
spurs, river valleys and cliffs, shown by contours and their heights.
MAN made features surveyed trees, queries, permanent huts,
causeways, mines, metalled and unmetalled roads, pack tracts, cart
tracts, artificial lakes with embankments, boundaries (national and
international), post offices, police chowkies and inspection bungalows.

Means of Transport in Relation to Relief

Transport always depend on the type of relief and drainage
Eg. Very high altitudes, mountaineous areas-only roads and no railway
tracks- difficult to build at such heights
On the map-roads are shown by means of symbols of cart tracks, pack
tracts, metalled roads, unmetalled roads, footpaths with a bridge.
Main towns- well connected by metalled roads show economic
development of the area-is the indication of trade being carried on.
Hence town shows well developed.
Causeways are raised platforms across a dry stream.
During dry season when the stream dries up, people make a habit of
crossing it.
Thus, a footway is formed.
Presence of many causeways shows that the area gets seasonal or scanty
rainfall.

DIRECTIONS

Directions- important tool while reading topo map.

Directions are important for physical as well as urban features.
Physical features- directions of rivers, streams,
Urban cities from one another

DIRECTION-TO RIVER AND RIVER BANKS

Need to know which direction river flows.
REMEMBER THESE STEPS:
1.First look at the spot heights to determine the slope of the land
2.To know which side/bank of the river a place is situated, one has to
locate the source of the river. Having located the direction of the river,
imagine yourself standing at the source of the river facing the main river
facing the main river. Now to your right is right bank and to your left is the
left bank.

Calculation of Area

Area= Length x Breadth

In topo maps, each grid (square) 2cm X 2cm or 1 km to 1 km as per the
scale 2 cm=1 km
Therefore , area of each square is
4 sq cm (on the map)= 1 sq km (on the ground)
In metres, this can be expressed as
Area of each square (i.e. 4 sq cm) = 1000 X 1000
or 1,000,000 sq m.

To calculate the area by grid square method:

If there are some incomplete squares, area can be calcualted as follows:
-Note the number of completed squares
-Squares covered half are taken as
-Squares covering less than half area are taken as 1/3
-Squares covering more than half of the area are taken as 2/3
-All these estimated squares are added together and the sum is multiplied by the scale
of the area given out above to obtain the desired area.

LAND USE
IN topomap location of veg is closely related to relief.
In the highlands, vegetation is shown green colour along with contours
in brown showing elevation.
To show density of wooded area, different terms used:
Dense forest, open-mixed forest, open jungle, fairly-mixed jungle,
dense-mixed jungle, mixed jungle, Reserved Forest (RF), Protected
Forest (PF), fairly mixed jungle with bamboo, dense mixed jungle with
bamboo.
The exterior boundaries of areas of Reserved or Protected forest are
shown by green ribands .
THE PLAINS:Plains-mainly agriculture- cultivable land is shown in yellow colour
White patch in plain shows bad land or rocky, uncultivable land.
In such land, following features are foundOpen scrub scrub land where mostly sheep and goat rearing is
practiced
Stony waste the land which is mostly covered with rock boulders and
stones and cultivation is not possible.
SHEET ROCKS:Sheet rocks a region mostly covered with a sheet of rock.
Rock outcrop In such region subsoil is exposed and cultivation is not
possible.
Broken ground developed because of absence of natural vegetation
on both the banks of the river. It is common in the desert area and in
the areas of gully erosion.This is formed due to floods which occur
during rainy season. Because of floods, the top soil is washed away
developing into bad land which has loose soil and is uncultivable.
LOW LANDS:Plains which are situated at lower level are mostly characterized by a
meandering river.
A disappearing stream shows a desert or limestone area

Presence of canal, wells, tube wells and tanks indicate use of land for
agriculture by means of irrigation
A meandering river shows a flat area
Perennial lined wells indicate a higher water table and are shown by
blue dots.

Presence of dry streams, dry ponds, exposed river beds and broken
land shown in black indicate an area with scanty rainfall or seasonal
rainfall or a desert region.
Settlements are generally found on either side of river-wherever
irrigation by canals or perennial lined wells is available
MEANS OF IRRIGATION
Irrigation largely depends on relief and land use pattern of area (blue)
Hilly region- no cultivation is possible, hence there is no need for
irrigation
On the flat lands which are coloured yellow, one can see blue, round
spots which represent perennial lined wells. therefore one can say
that the main source of irrigation in such areas are wells and the
occupation of people is farming.
Other means of irrigation are canals, ponds, artifical lakes withj
embankments and river in case it is perennial.
Presence of dry streams and dry ponds with uncultivable lands shown
in white indicates that the rainfall in the area is scanty.
Presence of artificial man-made lake with embankment shows that
water is being stored in off season and is used for irrigation through
canals.
OCCUPATIONS
Occupations have to be inferred from toposheets as there are no
symbols to show the occupations of people.
Sometimes, certain names like farms, orchards provide some
evidence of these occupations.
The following list gives you some information about occupation of the

people from a topo-sheet.

OCCUPATIONS EVIDENCES
Forestry, lumbering Forest or Green Patch
Agriculture Yellow Patch or orchards with many wells
Cattle-grazing or sheep rearing Meadows or Scrub, grasslands, meadows,
pastures
Quarrying and mining Mines and Quarries, lime stone beds
Trade Settlement near main roads, ports, rivers, etc dense
settlement
Entertainment & Cultural devpmnt Gold Courses, Parks, Rifle Ranges,
etc
Industry Factory, mines, large settlements near roads and
railways, presence of raw materials (lime making and
cement industry near limestone beds)
Fishery Coast,l akes, rivers, etc
Tourism Hotels and Inns
Thus, the occupation of the people of an area can be inferred from the
following :
Topography of land
Size of settlement
Presence of quarry and mines
Communication network indicating trade

REMEMEMBER FEW POINTS:

HACHURING: Hachuring are short lines representing directions of a
slope. For steep slopes they are drawn closer together than for the
gentle slopes. However on flat ground, they cannot be used.
SPOT HEIGHTS: Spot heights are used to provide more information about
land surfaces between the contours. These are represented by a

number preceded by a dot. for example 340

TRIANGULATION POINTS: When the spot heights are accurately surveyed

, the dot is enclosed within a triangle and are called the

triangulation points.

BENCH MARKS: The marks inscribed stones or shown on buildings to

indicate the exact height determined through the surveys, are called
the Bench Marks. These marks are shown by letters BM along with
height . eg. BM 590
INDEX CONTOURS: To make the maps easier to read, contour lines are
thickened at regular intervals. These thickened contour lines are called
index contours.
FORM LINES: These are broken lines between contour lines to indicate
minor details. They show approximate heights above sea level as they
are used to indicate the elevations of the area which are not accessible
for proper suvey.Hence they are drawn as broken lines and are called
'form lines'.
TRIGONOMETRICAL STATIONS: These points show height and are marked
by a triangle and height. eg. 877