india

Updated: May 25, 2016 08:43 IST

A year after maps in school textbooks published by the Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research (Balbharti) depicted Arunachal Pradesh as part of China and marked out Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as a separate territory, the new Class 6 history textbooks are once again error-ridden.

Maps show Kanheri caves - located inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivli - to be underwater. Delhi, the capital of the country, is shown on the eastern bank of river Yamuna (most of Delhi is on the western bank) and the Mediterranean Sea has been depicted as a land mass.

Academicians pointed out several glaring errors in at least six maps published in these textbooks.

While in a chapter on the ancient kingdoms in south India, on page 36, the Kanheri caves built during the reign of the Mauryan and Kushana emperors, have been marked off the coast of Mumbai, a chapter on India and Asia trade routes, shows the Silk Route passing through the Mediterranean Sea, which is marked out to be a land mass.

More than 17 lakh students of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) will refer to these textbooks based on the new syllabus for Class 6.

Experts said the state government allowed the same people, who were responsible for the embarrassing mistakes in the Class 10 geography textbooks in 2014, to work on these textbooks.

“At least two of the members from the board of studies, which was sacked for making mistakes in the geography textbook in 2014, were again appointed to prepare the new textbooks,” said Vidyadhar Amrite, retired professor of Sathaye College.

He added “It is shocking that when the BJP was an opposition party, they had called for strict action against these people, but now they are hiring the same people.”

Historical inaccuracies

* Delhi has been shown on the eastern banks of river Yamuna while most of the city lies on the western bank

* While depicting the ‘Silk Route’ that connected India and Asia, a map shows the Mediterranean sea as a landmass

* Malla, which was one of the republics of India that constituted the mahajanapadas, has been shown to be a part of Nepal in a map. It was actually located near Uttar Pradesh, say experts

* A map confuses Kanheri caves with Elephanta caves and incorrectly shows them in the middle of the sea. The caves are actually located in Mumbai’s Borivali