ApnaKarachi ^[1] has been around for a long time, and since its very inception has captured the imaginations of its visitors. When it started out, its star attraction was the Phone Directory ^[2]. It’s come a long way since as it continues to add new features to the site.

The latest in this series of innovations is the ApnaKarachi Maps ^[3] which the website itself describes as:

First of its kind true Map of Karachi for the citizens of this great city.

^[4]

The maps are the first street level representation of the city. One of the developers described the maps on his blog ^[5] in these words:

The basic motivation behind the Maps was that Pakistan per se doesn’t have any worthwhile representation in major map sites like Google or Yahoo! Maps, so we intended to provide that kind of information and facility to our people. We have just started with Karachi, other cities would definitely on the way.

The most useful features is the layers options for hospitals, schools, fuel pumps etc that can be activated or deactivated. This makes the map look less cluttered and someone searching for a specific landmark is saved a great deal of hassle. In an interview with uXuf, the developer in the team who designed the maps, he explained how the team roamed the streets of Karachi in a rickshaw to collect all the points. The team itself comprised of 5 people, performing the tasks of development, graphic, and mapping.

The team already has a system in place that would allow users tag landmarks themselves and will be released soon.