A good map is of immense help in any city, particularly one as large as New Delhi. Eicher’s City Map – Delhi covers not just New Delhi but also its satellite towns – Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad (1, 134 sq. kms. in all). This is the second edition of the map, published in 2001 and costs Rs. 290. What is remarkable about this book is its attention to detail and the way all the information has been organised. The book comprises 191 pages of maps, all in colour, with a scale of 1.5 inches equalling just 500 metres.
The maps are colour-coded, making it easy to distinguish the different features like roads, buildings, markets, water bodies, parks, colonies railway lines etc. and there are special symbols for the different landmarks like hospitals, post-offices, banks, cinemas and many others. Almost every lane and by lane in the city has been shown on the map along with house-numbers, the locations and names of major buildings of all kinds – colleges, institutions, hotels, hospitals etc. – and the scores of historical structures that Delhi is famous for. The book has a very detailed, classified index in alphabetical order.
Apart from colonies and roads there are dozens of other categories like hospitals, hotels, cinemas, offices, shopping complexes etc., which make it easier for you to locate what you are looking for. The only thing that I do not like is that this book does not have spiral binding, unlike its first edition. Spiral binding certainly makes a book user-friendlier and I am disappointed that it has not been used in the current edition as well. A tourist who intends spending only a few days in Delhi might not want to spend Rs. 290 on a map but for other people who live here for any length of time this book is certainly value for money. The people of Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore need not feel left out, as Eicher has published City Maps for those cities as well.