Tracking the Zero Milestones across Indian cities
The distance between Mumbai and Pune is 162 km, but is it the distance between the respective airports or railway stations, or some other landmarks of the city? Cities cover a large area, so there is a need for an exact point from which the distance needs to be measured.
Zero Milestones L: Pune and R: Ooty
Surveyors call this point zero point and they are usually properly marked with a zero milestone. The 162 km is the distance between the zero points of the respective cities. The Mumbai zero point is at the St. Thomas’ Cathedral, while that of Pune is at the General Post Office (GPO) (Pune Zero Mile Stone).
The proper mapping of the Indian sub-continent started in 1802 and continued till the 1870s. Known as the Great Trigonometrical Survey (GTS), it is considered one of the most stupendous works in the history of science.
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After the completion of the survey, zero points of about 80 cities across the sub-continent were marked with zero milestones. Sadly, most of them have been lost, but a few have survived, even after a century and a half of neglect.
Pune zero milestone
Pune (Google map location): The Pune zero milestone stands on the eastern wall of General Post Office (GPO). Till 2017 it was partially buried under layers of concrete.
In 2017 the concrete layers were removed and the stone was exposed. Since then, there have been several efforts to beautify the place and turn it into an open air museum, complete with models and installations, narrating the tale of mapping of the sub-continent.
Sadly during my visit in June 2022, I found almost all the lights missing and statues defaced and broken. But the zero mile stone still stands there in its former glory with the names of several other cities.
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Mumbai Zero Point Plaque, St. Thomas’ Cathedral, Mumbai
Mumbai (Google map location): Sadly the zero mile stone of Mumbai (previously Bombay) has vanished but it location could be traced at the St. Thomas’ Cathedral, located just west of the Horniman Circle Garden.
A plaque at a entrance of the church mentions the story of Mumbai’s zero point with a map.
It says from the church 16 milestones were laid out, leading to the north of the city. The milestone measured 4 feet in height but are submerged by the increasing road level.
Today 11 of the 16 milestones have been located. The plaque was placed on December 2018 to commemorate the tercentenary celebration of the church.
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Zero Stone and milestone, Ooty, St. Stephens’ Church
Ooty (Google map location): Ooty (or Udhagamandalam), the hill station in the Nilgiris, probably houses the most intact zero milestone.
It stands at the gateway of the St. Stephens’ Church. It can be seen at the base of the central pillar of the double metal arched entrance of the church.
The mile stone mentions the names of nearby places along with their respective distance from Ooty.
Next to the mile stone lies the zero stone. This marks the exact zero point of Ooty. This is the very point from where the distance are measured. Ooty is probably the only place in the sub-continent where the zero stone and zero mile stone both exists.
Note: A detailed blog post on St. Stephens’ Church, Ooty is comming soon in my blog
Milestone, Piparia, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
Piparia (Google map location): Piparia is a small town in Madhya Pradesh (MP). It serves as a pit stop for tourist heading to Pachmarhi to Jabalpur. In front of the Shree Tourist Motel stands a British era milestone.
The milestone looks more like a miniature temple and has inscriptions on three side. The inscription is on arched marble plaques.
The plaques mentions the name, distance and elevation of nearby places.
The fourth side has some information is in Hindi and is painted with black paints, most of which has peeled away. The information was added much later and probably was part of a restoration effort.
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Chennai zero milestone
Chennai (Google map location): This is no historic mile stone and not part of the famed GTS.
It serves as the technical starting point for three primary roads of Chennai — the NH 45 that winds down south to Thiruchirapalli, NH 4 that takes off westward to Bengaluru and the NH 5 that sticks to the coast all the way to Kolkata.
The milestone can be seen on a bridge above a railway line connecting Chennai Fort with Chennai Park Town station.
In fact these is not a single milestone but two milestones located on opposite sides of the road.
Note: The list is not comprehensive and contains only the zero milestone personally visited by me
