Government of India
Headquartered in Kolkata, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) is a subordinate office under the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India. Pioneer in thematic mapping services since its inception in 1956, NATMO is the only agency of the country catering to the requirements of thematic maps and atlases for different sectors. NATMO is perhaps the largest mapping organisation in the world.
NATMO, initially known as the National Atlas Organisation (NAO), was set up in 1956 under the able leadership of Prof. Shiba Prasad Chattopadhyay, who is considered the doyen of Indian Geography. This organisation is an exceptional contribution by Prof. S.P. Chatterjee for Geography and Geographers of India. Prof. Chatterjee was a visionary. He was clear about the role of geographers in the domain of planning and development of the country. Prof. Chatterjee put forth these thoughts in public much ahead of India's independence. As an avid cartographer, he could convince the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to sanction a project for compiling and publishing the first-ever 'National Atlas of India'. The newly formed team worked very hard to publish the first ever national atlas of India - Bharat Rashtriya Atlas (in Hindi) in a record time of nine months. It was a commendable achievement for a newly independent country and received much appreciation from a wide spectrum of users.
Over the years, the organisation grew in strength and successfully executed several projects of national importance. In December 1975, the Government appointed a Review Committee headed by Prof. George Kurian. Following the Committee's recommendation, an order was issued from the Department of Science and Technology, through which the organisation's name was modified to National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation from 9th August 1978.
NATMO has already published more than hundred atlases, more than five hundred thematic maps and nearly two hundred monographs. The organisation offers more than fifty different services, related to cartography. Agricultural atlas, environmental atlases, Indian and Asian archaeological atlas, health and disease atlases; state atlases/maps, district planning map series, golden map service and tourist maps; maps of climatic regions, urban population, natural hazards, irrigation network— are all meticulously prepared and offered by NATMO for usage in different sectors. Currently NATMO is engaged in developing a unique atlas on women empowerment in the country in collaboration with SEED.
NATMO has the largest repository of spatial and non-spatial data processed with great accuracy. With changing times, NATMO also keeps pace with the latest technologies like GIS, GPS and remote sensing.
Recently, NATMO has set up its own data center with state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology for providing online thematic map services. NATMO has started 24x7 map services like WMS, WFS, WCS etc in compliance with OGC standards. The NATMO geoportal provides all users unrestricted access to digital versions (e-atlas and PDF maps) of all publication as well.
Over the times, the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation helped establish the usefulness and scope of geographical training beyond classrooms and arm-chairs.
The main functions of this organisation are as follows:
- Compilation of the national atlas in different Indian languages.
- Preparation and publication of thematic maps based on various data.
- Digital mapping using the latest technologies.
- Developing different types of maps for the visually challenged.
- Research and development in modern cartographic services.
- Providing training on GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing and Cartography to students, researchers, teachers professionals etc.
