GEOGR

NAME:KIRAN SANKAR
APHY STD: X - A
BOARD ROLL NO: 2171
TOPIC: TRANSPORT IN INDIA:- DEVELOPMENT OF ROAD,
RAIL, WATER AND AIR ROUTES
SUBMISSION DATE: 13.1.2021
Introduction:-
Railways, roads, airways and waterways are included in
the transportation. The role of transport network, which
connects various regions, is important for sustainable
economic and social development of India. Transport
routes bring together people within the country and also
from foreign countries. It helps to promote exchange of
customs, traditions and ideas. Transport routes play a
crucial role in industrial development by transporting
basic requirements of industries like fuel, raw products,
etc.. at right time and in turn these routes bring
industrial products to market. In India, distribution of
various goods has become mainly possible through
transport routes. Transport routes always give its
important contribution in meeting the requirement of
ever increasing population of India. They also play an
important role during natural calamities like
earthquakes, droughts, floods, and for defence purpose.
Rail transport in India:

• Indian railways are the important and almost reliable

means of passenger and goods transport. Indian Railway
is the largest railway network in Asia. It connects people
and places from different parts of the country. Industries
and agriculture have speedily developed due to railway
transport. In India, the first railway was laid down from
Mumbai to Thane in 1853. The length of the track was
only 34 kilometres. The approximate length of the
railways in India is 114000 km which connects about
75500 stations. There are more than 11000 trains run
daily. To facilitate smooth functioning and easy
management of the railways, Indian railways are divided
into 16 zones. Besides, Konkan railway is a special zone.
• The distribution of Railway network is dense in the
North Indian plains from Howrah to Amritsar. The railway
network is less in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan,
Uttarakhand, Assam etc due to various hilly or desert
regions. It is economical and more convenient to
transport heavy and bulky commodities over longer
distances by rail. As a part of transport developments,
metropolitan cities of Kolkata and Delhi have "metro"
railways. Due to it, strain on other public transport has
been reduced and transport has become smooth and
speedy.

Important rail routes found in India:-

Mumbai – Delhi route: There are two rail routes to
travel from Mumbai to Delhi. The Central Railway route
passes through stations like Nasik, Bhusaval, Itarsi,
Jhansi, Agra, etc. If we travel by Western Zone route we
pass through Surat, Vadodra, Ratlam, Mathura, etc.
Mumbai - Kolkata route: While travelling from
Mumbai to Kolkata, there are two routes: one passes
through Nagpur and the other through Allahabad. While
going via Nagpur, the major stations we come across are
Manmad, Bhusaval, Wardha, Nagpur, Raipur, Tatanagar,
etc. are some of the important stations.

Mumbai – Chennai route: The important major

stations on this route are Pune, Solapur, Raichur and
Guntkal.

Pune – Bangalore route: Miraj, Belgaum, Hubli,

Arsekri, are the main stations on this route.

Chennai – Delhi route: Vijaywada, Kazipeth, Wardha,

Nagpur, Itarsi, Jhansi are the important stations of this
route.
Gorakhpur – Tinsukia route: This route is important in
view of defence of the country. It is the only route
connecting the north – east frontier area with the rest of
the country. Some of the major stations on this route are
Rangia, Tezpur, Lakhimpur, etc.

Konkan Railway: The railway project has been

established with the co-operation of states of
Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala and the railway
ministry. The length of this railway line from Roha to
Mangalore is 760 kilometres. Main stations on this route
are Ratnagiri, Margao and Karwar.

Road routes in India:-

In India, many villages and cities are situated at long

distance from each other. It is possible to connect them
by roads. Roads play an important role in transporting
perishable goods from one place to another. Out of the
total length of transport routes in the country 85%
consists of roads. India has more than 35lakhs kilometres
length of roads. Density of roads is high in the states of
Kerala, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Goa, etc while it is low in the
states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim,
Uttarakhand, etc. Generally, mountainous or desert
regions have low density of roads. As per the basis of
functions, roads are broadly classified into Village roads,
State Highways and Major District roads and National
highways and Express ways.

Village roads: The roads which connect villages and

districts are called as village roads. The quality of these
roads is not good as compared to other roads. These
roads are important for transporting agricultural and
forest goods from villages to markets. These roads are
useful in providing various services to rural areas. Village
roads are controlled and managed by Zilla Parishad.
State Highways and Major District roads: The roads
which connect the state head quarters and district places
are known as State Highways. The roads which join the
taluka places and market towns are known as Major
District roads. Most of the State Highways are also
connected to the National Highways whereas Major
District roads are connected to the State Highways. State
Highways and Major District roads are under the control
of State government.

National Highways and Express ways: National Highways

connect state capitals, important cities, big industrial and
commercial centres, major ports and military sites. These
roads pass through various states of the country. A
private body looks after their development and
maintenance. Out of the total length of roads of the
country, length of national highways is only 2%.
However, about 40% of the total road transportation
takes place on the national highways. Length of national
highways in the country is about more than 65,600
kilometres. India has about 219 National highways. Huge
transportation of goods takes place on the national
highways. National highways have helped easy
transportation of goods to distant markets in the
country.
Express ways are used for safe and rapid transport. The
express way between Mumbai and Pune has been
developed by the National Highway Authority of India.
On the lines of the express way, there is an ambitious
scheme known as the Golden Quadrilateral Highway
Project. It connects the four metropolitan cities of Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The East-West Corridor
highway connects Silchar to Porbandar and the North-
South Corridor highway connects Srinagar to
Kanniyakumari. These highways have four to six lanes.
Following are some highways having more than
1000 kilometres length:
1. Delhi to Kolkata
2. Delhi to Mumbai
3. Agra to Mumbai
4. Chennai to Thane
5. Chennai to Baharagora
6. Kolkata to Hazira
7. Varanasi to Kanniyakumarai
8. Panvel to Idapalli
9. Pathankot to Samkhiyali
10. Pindwara to Allahabad
11. Barhi to Guwahati

Airways in India:

• India being a nation of vast land, air places joining the

various places within the country are developed on large
scale. India has established special relationship at world
level due to its industrial and cultural progress. Due to
globalization, in order to communicate with different
countries in the world, airways have been developed.
• The management of air routes is done by an
autonomous government organisation. Management of
internal airways is being done by “Indian Airlines". This
service is useful of transportation of passengers, goods
and also offers postal services. Besides, this services area
also provided to the neighbouring countries by Indian Air
Lines. “Air India" is another organisation being used for
transportation of international passengers and cargo
services.
• On the basis of new National Policy, an agreement of
air services has been done with about one hundred
countries. Therefore, communication with air ways with
U.K., China, Australia, Germany, France, Gulf Countries
and U.S.A has increased. Due to the newly changed
policy of the Central Government, private air
organisations are also providing air transport services.
“Pawanhans" is a government organisation which
provides helicopter services. In India, Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Srinagar,
etc have international airports.
Water routes:-

Passengers and goods are transported by oceans, seas,

canals and other waterways. Water transport plays a key
role in international trade. Exhaustible goods can be
transported to long distances at less expenditure by
waterways. There are two types of waterways viz. Inland
waterways and sea ways.

Inland Waterways:
Rivers, canals, lakes are used for transporting goods and
passengers. These are known as "inland water
transport". They are used for transporting agricultural
products, minerals, coal etc. The length of inland
waterways in India is about 14500km. Allahabad- Haldia
in Ganga waterways, Sadia- Dhubri Brahmaputra
waterways, kollam- Kottapuram of west coastal canal,
Champakara and Udyogmandal canal are examples of
inland waterways. Apart from these, Godavari, Krishna,
Mahanadi and the backwaters of Kerala are included in
inland waterways transportation.

Sea Ways: India has a long coastline of about 7517

kilometres along with its special economic zone. There
are about 14 major ports and approximately 190 minor
ports in the coastal region. These major ports handle
95% of India's foreign trade. There are many natural
ports along the west coast of India. Ports are protected
from strong winds and open sea waves due to coastal
creeks and bays. The seas along such coasts are deep and
therefore big ships and boats can reach to the coast.
Main ports along the west coast are Kandla, Mumbai,
Marmagao, New Mangalore, Kochi, etc.

Important ports found in India

Kandla: It is located in the Gulf of Kuchch in Gujarat
state. About 17 per cent of India's trade is handled from
this port. Trade of products like mineral oil, salt, chemical
fertilizers, cement, cotton and sugar is carried out here.

Mumbai: About 8 percent of goods are traded from

Mumbai. Jawaharlal Nehru port at Nhava-Sheva helps to
reduce burden on Mumbai port.

Marmagao: This port is in Gao state along Western coast

of India. Marmagao port export minerals like manganese,
iron ore and bauxite. Besides, Karwar port handles trade
of Iron ore, manganese and petro-chemicals. This port
has all types of modern facilities.

Kolkata: Kolkata is situated along the coast of West

Bengal. About 14 per cent of India's trade is handled at
Kolkata port. To the south of Kolkata, there is another
port named Haldia. Larger ships can have access to this
port. This port transport several commodities like
minerals and industrial goods.
Chennai: Chennai is an old and commercially important
port along the coast of the state of Tamil Nadu. This port
transports agricultural products, minerals and industrial
goods. Due to the facilities of oil tankers, the port also
transports mineral oil and petrol.

Vishakhapatanam: This port is a good natural harbour. It

is situated along the Andhra Pradesh coast and it handles
16 per cent of India's trade. Ship building, repairs and
maintenance of ships are done over.