Lifeline Of National Economy
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Introduction
When we heard the word lifeline, the image that comes in our mind is the blood vessels in a body that runs to every corner of body carrying the blood supply and other essential micro nutrients. Similarly on that note when we say Lifeline of National economy we are referring to the chain network of transport and communication that regulates the movement of good and services from their supply location to their demand location.
On earth the Movement of goods and services based on three domains i.e. Land, water and Air.
For a long time trade and transport were restricted to limited space. But with the advancement of science and technology, today's world has been converted into a large village with the help of efficient and fast moving transport. In this achievement the communication system plays a vital role. So, Trade, transport and communication are contemporary to each other.
Means of Transport
1.Land Transport
a) Roadways
b) Railways
c) Pipelines
2. Water Transport
a) Inland
b) Overseas
3. Air Transport
a) Domestic Airways
i) Public Undertaking
ii) Private Airlines
b) International Airways
Transport In India
Due to different types of landforms in India, different modes of transport prevail here.
Roadways
i) With 2.3 million km at present India has one of the largest road networks in world.
ii) In India Road transport is growing in importance as compare to railways because
a) Construction cost of roads is much lower than that of railway lines.
b) Construction of road can be build in uneven surface like hills and mountains.
c) Road transport is economical in transportation of few people and relatively smaller amount of goods over short distances.
d) It provides door to door service.
e) It links other modes of transport like between railway station, air and sea ports.
Classification of Roads On the Basis of Capacity
In India Six types of road classifications are there.
1. Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways :
i) It connect 4 important cities of India - Delhi - Kolkata-Chennai- Mumbai.
ii) These are six lane highways managed by NHAI ( National Highway Authority of India).
iii) The North- South corridors linking Srinagar and Kanyakumari .
iv) The East- West corridors connecting Silcher ( Assam) and Porbandar ( Gujarat).
2. National Highways:
i) Connect one state with another and are of national importance.
ii) Constructed and maintained by CPWD ( Central Public works Department) under NHAI's supervision.
iii) Some well known National Highways are - NH-1 Delhi to Amritsar Known as The historical Sher Shah Suri Marg.
NH-2 Delhi to Kolkata
NH - 7 The longest National Highway From Varanasi to Kanyakumari..
3. State Highways:
These are roads connect a state Capital with its district headquarters. They are constructed and maintained by the State Public works Department ( SPWD).
4. District Roads :
These roads connect the district headquarters with other places of the district. These are maintained by the Zilla Parishad.
5. Village Roads:
Connect the village with the neighbouring towns and cities.
5. Border Roads:
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) constructs and maintains roads in border areas.
Road can also be classified as Metalled and Unmetalled on the basis of material used.
Road Density
The length of road per 100 sq km area is known as density of roads. It varies from only 12.14 km in Jammu and Kashmir to 517.77 km in Kerala ( as per 31st March 2011). With National average of 142.68 km ( 31 March 2011).
Railways
i) Railways are the important mode of transportation for goods and passengers in India.
ii) It carry bulky Weight and excellent for long distances.
iii) Indian Railways bind the economic life in the country as well as it accelerate the development of the industry and agriculture.
iv) Indian Railways have a network of 7,133 stations spread over a route length of 64,460 km.
v) Indian railways is the largest public sector undertaking in the country. The First train run from Mumbai to Thane in 1853, covering a distance of 34 km.
vi) For administrative convenience, Indian railway is recognised into 16 zones.
vii) There are 3 types of Gauges ( railway track)
• Broad Gauge ( 1,676 metres)
• Metre Gauge ( 1,000 metres)
• Narrow Gauge ( 0.762 and 0.610 )
Challenges for Indian Railway
i) It is difficult to construct railway lines in sandy plains of Western India, hilly and mountainous regions of peninsula India and Himalayas.
ii) The initial costs of laying the tracks are too expensive.
Problems faced by Indian Railways are :-
i) Many passengers travel without tickets.
ii) Theft and damaging of railway property has not yet stopped.
iii) People stop train by pulling the chain unnecessarily that causes heavy damage to the railway.
Pipelines
i) Pipeline transport network is a new arrival on the transportation map of India.
ii) These are used for transporting crude oil, petroleum product and natural gas and solid like iron ore through a pipeline when converted into slurry.
iii) Initial cost of laying pipelines is high but subsequent running costs are minimal.
iv) Inland locations of refineries like Barauni, Mathura, Panipat and gas based fertilizer plants could be thought of only because of pipelines.
There are Three important networks of pipelines transportation in the country.
1. From Oil field in Upper Assam to Kanpur ( UP) , via Guwahati, Barauni and Allahabad.
2. From Salaya in Gujarat to Jalandhar in Punjab, via Viramgam, Mathura, Delhi and Sonipat.
3. Gas Pipeline from Hazira in Gujarat to Jagadishpur ( UP) via Vijaipur ( MP).
Waterways
Waterways are the cheapest means of transport. They are suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.
Inland Waterways :-
India has inland navigation waterways of 14,500 km in length. Out these only 5685 km are navigable by machine boats.
National Waterways are -
NW-1 Allahabad to Haldia ( 1,620 km)
On River Ganga,Bhagirathi , and Hoogly river system.
NW-2 The Brahmaputra River between Sadiya and Dhubri ( 891 km)
NW-3 West-cost Canal in Kerla (205 km)
( Kottapuram-komman, Udyogamandal and Champakkara canals )
NW-4 Part of Krishan and Godavari rivers
Along with Kakinada-Puducherry stretch of canals (1, 078km)
NW-5 Parts Brahmani river along with Matai river, delta channels of Mahandi and Brahmani river and east coast canal(588km)
MAJOR SEA PORTS
With 5,516.6 km coastline India has 12 major and 187 notified non-major ports. These major ports handle 95% of India's foreign trade.
1. Kandla in Kuchchh was the first port port soon after Independence. It is a tidal port.
2. MUMBAI is the biggest port with natural and Well-sheltered harbour.
3.Jawaharlal Lal Nehru port was developed nearby to ease off the decongestion in Mumbai port.
4.Marmagao Panaji, Goa, Iron ore exporting port.
5. New Mangalore Karnataka. Exporting iron-ore from Kudremukh mines.
6. Kochchi Kerala South Western port with a natural harbour.
7. Tuticorin Tamilnadu South Eastern port with a natural harbour catering cargoes to sri Lanka, maldives etc.
8. Chennai is one of the oldest artificial port of the country.
9. Visakhapatnam Andhrapradesh. Deepest landlocked and well protected port for exporting iron-ore.
10. Paradwip Odisha export of iron-ore
11. Kolkata west Bengal Tidal port and inland riverine port, serve hinterland of Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.
12. Haldia West Bengal it reduce the pressure from kolkata port.
AIRWAYS
The Air travel is the faster, most comfortable and prestigious mode of transport. Air transport was nationalised in 1953.
Types of Airways
1) International Airports - Delhi, Mumbai, kolkata, chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Panaji, Guwahati and Cochin.
2) Domestic Airport - There are 63 domestic airports in the country.
Airports are managed by Airport Authority of India.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is an act of exchanging information. Communication can be of two types
1) Personal Communication ( India post, Mail channel, Telecom)
2) Mass Communication ( Television, Newspaper, magazines Films)
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