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We use different materials and services in our daily life. Some of these are available in our immediate surroundings, while other requirements are met by bringing things from other places. Goods and services do not move from supply locales to demand locales on their own. The movement of these goods and services from their supply locations to demand locations necessitates the need for transport. Some people are engaged in facilitating these movements. These are known to be traders who make the products come to the consumers by transportation. Thus, the pace of development of a country depends upon the production of goods and services as well as their movement over space. Therefore, efficient means of transport are pre-requisites for fast development. Movement of these goods and services can be over three important domains of our earth i.e. land, water and air. Based on these, transport can also be classified into land, water and air transport. expanded far and wide. Today, the world has been converted into a large village with the help of efficient and fast moving transport. Transport has been able to achieve this with the help of equally developed communication system. Therefore, transport, communication and trade are complementary to each other. Today, India is well-linked with the rest of the world despite its vast size, diversity and linguistic and socio-cultural plurality. Railways, airways, water ways, newspapers, radio, television, cinema and internet, etc. have been contributing to its socio-economic progress in many ways. The trades from local to international levels have added to the vitality of its economy. It has enriched our life and added substantially to growing amenities and facilities for the comforts of life. In this chapter, you will see how modern means of transport and communication serve as life lines of our nation and its modern Fig. 7.1 For a long time, trade and transport were restricted to a limited space. With the development in science and technology, the area of influence of trade and transport economy. It is thus, evident that a dense and efficient network of transport and communication is a pre-requisite for local, national and global trade of today.
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Page 1: lifelines-of-national-economy

We use different materials and services in ourdaily life. Some of these are available in ourimmediate surroundings, while otherrequirements are met by bringing things fromother places. Goods and services do not movefrom supply locales to demand locales on theirown. The movement of these goods and servicesfrom their supply locations to demand locationsnecessitates the need for transport. Some peopleare engaged in facilitating these movements.These are known to be traders who make theproducts come to the consumers bytransportation. Thus, the pace of developmentof a country depends upon the production ofgoods and services as well as their movementover space. Therefore, efficient means of transportare pre-requisites for fast development.

Movement of these goods and services can beover three important domains of our earth i.e. land,water and air. Based on these, transport can alsobe classified into land, water and air transport.

expanded far and wide. Today, the world hasbeen converted into a large village with the helpof efficient and fast moving transport.Transport has been able to achieve this withthe help of equally developed communicationsystem. Therefore, transport, communicationand trade are complementary to each other.

Today, India is well-linked with the rest ofthe world despite its vast size, diversity andlinguistic and socio-cultural plurality.Railways, airways, water ways, newspapers,radio, television, cinema and internet, etc. havebeen contributing to its socio-economicprogress in many ways. The trades from localto international levels have added to the vitalityof its economy. It has enriched our life andadded substantially to growing amenities andfacilities for the comforts of life.

In this chapter, you will see how modernmeans of transport and communication serveas life lines of our nation and its modern

Fig. 7.1

For a long time, trade and transport wererestricted to a limited space. With thedevelopment in science and technology, thearea of influence of trade and transport

economy. It is thus, evident that a dense andefficient network of transport andcommunication is a pre-requisite for local,national and global trade of today.

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82 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II

TRANSPORT

Roadways

India has one of the largest road networks inthe world, aggregating to about 2.3 million kmat present. In India, roadways have precededrailways. They still have an edge over railwaysin view of the ease with which they can be builtand maintained. The growing importance ofroad transport vis-à-vis rail transport is rootedin the following reasons; (a) construction cost ofroads is much lower than that of railway lines,(b) roads can traverse comparatively moredissected and undulating topography, (c) roadscan negotiate higher gradients of slopes and assuch can traverse mountains such as theHimalayas, (d) road transport is economical intransportation of few persons and relativelysmaller amount of goods over short distances,(e) it also provides door-to-door service, thusthe cost of loading and unloading is much lower,(f) road transport is also used as a feeder to othermodes of transport such as they provide a linkbetween railway stations, air and sea ports.

In India, roads are classified in the followingsix classes according to their capacity. Look atthe map of the National Highways and find outabout the significant role played by these roads.

• Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways:The government has launched a major roaddevelopment project linking Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai and Delhi by six-laneSuper Highways. The North-South corridorslinking Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) andKanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), and East-WestCorridor connecting Silcher (Assam) andPorbander (Gujarat) are part of this project.The major objective of these Super Highwaysis to reduce the time and distance betweenthe mega cities of India. These highwayprojects are being implemented by theNational Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

• National Highways: National Highwayslink extreme parts of the country. These arethe primary road systems and are laid andmaintained by the Central Public WorksDepartment (CPWD). A number of majorNational Highways run in North-South andEast-West directions. The historical Sher-

• State Highways: Roads linking a statecapital with different district headquartersare known as State Highways. These roadsare constructed and maintained by the StatePublic Works Department (PWD) in Stateand Union Territories.

• District Roads: These roads connect thedistrict headquarters with other places of thedistrict. These roads are maintained by theZila Parishad.

• Other Roads: Rural roads, which link ruralareas and villages with towns, are classifiedunder this category. These roads receivedspecial impetus under the Pradhan MantriGrameen Sadak Yojana. Under this schemespecial provisions are made so that every villagein the country is linked to a major town in thecountry by an all season motorable road.

Fig.7.2: Ahmedabad- Vadodara Expressway

Find out places linked by the NationalHighway 2 and 3.

Do you know that National Highway-7is the longest and traverses 2, 369 kmbetween Varanasi and Kanyakumarivia Jabalpur, Nagpur, Hyderabad,Bangalore and Madurai. Delhi andMumbai are connected by NationalHighway-8, while National Highway-15covers most of Rajasthan.

Shah Suri Marg is called National HighwayNo.1, between Delhi and Amritsar.

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83LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMY

India: National Highways

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84 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II

• Border Roads: Apart from these, BorderRoads Organisation a Government of Indiaundertaking constructs and maintainsroads in the bordering areas of the country.This organisation was established in 1960for the development of the roads of strategicimportance in the northern and north-eastern border areas. These roads haveimproved accessibility in areas of difficultterrain and have helped in the economicdevelopment of these area.

The Indian Railways is the largest publicsector undertaking in the country. The firsttrain steamed off from Mumbai to Thane in1853, covering a distance of 34 km.

concrete or even bitumen of coal, therefore,these are all weather roads. Unmetalled roadsgo out of use in the rainy season.

Road Density

The length of road per 100 sq. km of areais known as density of roads. Distributionof road is not uniform in the country.Density of all roads varies from only 10 kmin Jammu & Kashmir to 375 km in Keralawith the national average of 75 km(1996-97). Road transportation in Indiafaces a number of problems. Keeping in viewthe volume of traffic and passengers, theroad network is inadequate. About half ofthe roads are unmettaled and this limitstheir usage during the rainy season. TheNational Highways are inadequate too.Moreover, the roadways are highly congestedin cities and most of the bridges and culvertsare old and narrow.

Railways

Railways are the principal mode oftransportation for freight and passengers inIndia. Railways also make it possible toconduct multifarious activities like business,sightseeing, pilgrimage along withtransportation of goods over longer distances.Apart from an important means of transportthe Indian Railways have been a greatintegrating force for more than 150 years.Railways in India bind the economic life ofthe country as well as accelerate thedevelopment of the industry and agriculture.The Indian Railway have a network of 7, 031stations spread over a route length of 63, 221km. with a fleet of 7817 locomotives, 5321passenger service vehicles, 4904 other coachvehicles and 228, 170 wagons as on 31March 2004.

Fig. 7.3: Hilly Tracts

Fig. 7.4: Traffic on north-eastern border road(Arunachal Pradesh)

Roads can also be classified on the basis ofthe type of material used for their constructionsuch as metalled and unmetalled roads.Metalled roads may be made of cement,

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85LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMY

Find out the current Railway zones and theirheadquarters. Also locate the headquartersof Railway zones on the map of India.

Source: India Yearbook 2006

The Indian Railway is now reorganised into16 zones.

The distribution pattern of the Railwaynetwork in the country has been largelyinfluenced by physiographic, economic andadministrative factors. The northern plains withtheir vast level land, high population densityand rich agricultural resources provided themost favourable condition for their growth.However, a large number of rivers requiringconstruction of bridges across their wide bedsposed some obstacles. In the hilly terrains ofthe peninsular region, railway tracts are laidthrough low hills, gaps or tunnels. TheHimalayan mountainous regions too areunfavourable for the construction of railwaylines due to high relief, sparse population andlack of economic opportunities. Likewise, it wasdifficult to lay railway lines on the sandy plainof western Rajasthan, swamps of Gujarat,forested tracks of Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand. Thecontiguous stretch of Sahyadri could be crossedonly through gaps or passes (Ghats). In recenttimes, the development of the Konkan railwayalong the west coast has facilitated themovement of passengers and goods in this mostimportant economic region of India. It has alsofaced a number of problem such as sinking oftrack in some stretches and land slides.

Today, the railways have become moreimportant in our national economy than allother means of transport put together. However,rail transport suffers from certain problems aswell. Many passengers travel without tickets.Thefts and damaging of railway property hasnot yet stopped completely. People stop thetrains, pull the chain unnecessarily and thiscauses heavy damage to the railway. Thinkover it, how we can help our railway in runningas per the scheduled time?

Pipelines

Pipeline transport network is a new arrival onthe transportation map of India. In the past,these were used to transport water to cities andindustries. Now, these are used fortransporting crude oil, petroleum products andnatural gas from oil and natural gas fields torefineries, fertilizer factories and big thermalpower plants. Solids can also be transportedthrough a pipeline when converted into slurry.The far inland locations of refineries likeBarauni, Mathura, Panipat and gas basedfertilizer plants could be thought of onlybecause of pipelines. Initial cost of layingpipelines is high but subsequent runningcosts are minimal. It rules out trans-shipmentlosses or delays.

There are three important networks ofpipeline transportation in the country.

• From oil field in upper Assam to Kanpur(Uttar Pradesh), via Guwahati, Barauni andAllahabad. It has branches from Barauni toHaldia, via Rajbandh, Rajbandh toMaurigram and Guwahati to Siliguri.

Gauge in metres Route (Km) Running Track(Km) Total Track (Km.)

Broad Gauge (1. 676) 46, 807 66, 754 88, 547

Metro Gauge (1.000) 13, 209 13, 976 16, 489

Narrow Gauge (0.762 & 0.610) 3, 124 3, 129 3, 450

Total 63, 221 83, 859 1, 08, 486

Table 7.1: India: Railway Track

The Indian Railway network runs on multiple gauge operationsextending over 63,221 route km

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86 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II

India: Railways

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87LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMY

Fig. 7.5: Inland waterways widely used innorth-eastern states

• From Salaya in Gujarat to Jalandhar inPunjab, via Viramgam, Mathura, Delhi andSonipat. It has branches to connect Koyali(near Vadodara, Gujarat) Chakshu andother places.

• Gas pipeline from Hazira in Gujaratconnects Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh, viaVijaipur in Madhya Pradesh. It has branchesto Kota in Rajasthan, Shahajahanpur,Babrala and other places in Uttar Pradesh.

Waterways

Since time immemorial, India was one of theseafaring countries. Its seamen sailed far andnear, thus, carrying and spreading Indiancommerce and culture. Waterways are thecheapest means of transport. They are mostsuitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.It is a fuel-efficient and environment friendlymode of transport. India has inland navigationwaterways of 14,500 km in length. Out ofthese only 3,700 km are navigable bymechanised boats. The following waterwayshave been declared as the National Waterwaysby the Government.

Apart from these, India’s trade with foreigncountries is carried from the ports located alongthe coast. 95 per cent of the country’s tradevolume (68 per cent in terms of value) is movedby sea.

Major Sea Ports

With a long coastline of 7,516.6 km, India isdotted with 12 major and 181 medium andminor ports. These major ports handle 95 percent of India’s foreign trade.

Kandla in Kuchchh was the first portdeveloped soon after Independence to ease thevolume of trade on the Mumbai port, in thewake of loss of Karachi port to Pakistan afterthe Partition. Kandla is a tidal port. It caters tothe convenient handling of exports and importsof highly productive granary and industrial beltstretching across the states of Jammu andKashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana,Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Mumbai is the biggest port with a spaciousnatural and well-sheltered harbour. TheJawaharlal Nehru port was planned with a viewto decongest the Mumbai port and serve as a

• The Ganga river between Allahabad andHaldia (1620 km)-N.W. No.1

• The Brahmaputra river between Sadiya andDhubri (891 km)-N.W. No.2

• The West-Coast Canal in Kerala(Kottapurma-Komman, Udyogamandal andChampakkara canals-205 km) – N.W. No.3The other viable inland waterways include

the Godavari, Krishna, Barak, Sunderbans,Buckingham Canal, Brahmani, East-westCanal and Damodar Valley Corporation Canal.

hub port for this region. Marmagao port (Goa)is the premier iron ore exporting port of thecountry. This port accounts for about fifty percent of India’s iron ore export. New Mangaloreport, located in Karnataka caters to the exportof iron ore concentrates from Kudremukhmines. Kochi is the extreme south-westernport, located at the entrance of a lagoon with anatural harbour.

Fig. 7.6: Trucks being driven into the vessel atMumbai port

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88 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II

It can cover very difficult terrains like highmountains, dreary deserts, dense forests andalso long oceanic stretches with great ease.Think of the north-eastern part of the country,marked with the presence of big rivers,dissected relief, dense forests and frequentfloods and international frontiers, etc. in theabsence of air transport. Air travel has madeaccess easier.

Moving along the east coast, you would seethe extreme south-eastern port of Tuticorin, inTamil Nadu. This port has a natural harbourand rich hinterland. Thus, it has a flourishingtrade handling of a large variety of cargoes toeven our neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka,Maldives, etc. and the coastal regions of India.Chennai is one of the oldest artificial ports ofthe country. It is ranked next to Mumbai in termsof the volume of trade and cargo.Vishakhapatnam is the deepest landlocked andwell-protected port. This port was, originally,conceived as an outlet for iron ore exports.Paradip port located in Orissa, specialises in theexport of iron ore. Kolkata is an inland riverineport. This port serves a very large and richhinterland of Ganga- Brahmaputra basin. Beinga tidal port, it requires constant dredging ofHoogly. Haldia port was developed as asubsidiary port, in order to relieve growingpressure on the Kolkata port.

Fig. 7.7: Tanker discharging crude oil at NewMangalore port

Fig. 7.8: Handling of oversize cargo at Tuticorin port

Fig. 7.9

The air transport was nationalised in 1953.On the operational side, Indian Airlines,Alliance Air (subsidiary of Indian Airlines),private scheduled airlines and non- scheduledoperators provide domestic air services. AirIndia provides international air services.Pawanhans Helicopters Ltd. provideshelicopter services to Oil and Natural GasCommission in its off- shore operations, toinaccessible areas and difficult terrains like thenorth-eastern states and the interior parts ofJammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh andUttaranchal. Indian Airlines operations alsoextend to the neighbouring countries of Southand south-east Asia and the Middle east.

Find out the names of the countries connectedby Indian Airlines.

Air travel is not within the reach of thecommon people. It is only in the north-easternstates that special provisions are made toextend the services to the common people.

Airways

The air travel, today, is the fastest, mostcomfortable and prestigious mode of transport.

Why is air travel preferred in the north-eastern states?

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India: Major Ports and International Airports

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90 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II

Communication

Ever since humans appeared on the earth, theyhave used different means of communication.But, the pace of change, has been rapid inmodern times. Long distance communicationis far easier without physical movement of thecommunicator or receiver. Personalcommunication and mass communicationincluding television, radio, press, films, etc. arethe major means of communication in thecountry. The Indian postal network is the largestin the world. It handles parcels as well aspersonal written communications. Cards andenvelopes are considered first–class mail andare airlifted between stations covering both landand air. The second–class mail includes bookpackets, registered newspapers and periodicals.They are carried by surface mail, covering landand water transport. To facilitate quick deliveryof mails in large towns and cities, six mailchannels have been introduced recently. Theyare called Rajdhani Channel, Metro Channel,Green Channel, Business Channel, Bulk MailChannel and Periodical Channel.

order to strengthen the flow of informationfrom the grassroot to the higher level, thegovernment has made special provision toextend twenty-four hours STD facility toevery village in the country. There is a uniformrate of STD facilities all over India. It hasbeen made possible by integrating thedevelopment in space technology withcommunication technology.

Mass communication providesentertainment and creates awareness amongpeople about various national programmes andpolicies. It includes radio, television,newspapers, magazines, books and films. AllIndia Radio (Akashwani) broadcasts a varietyof programmes in national, regional and locallanguages for various categories of people,spread over different parts of the country.Doordarshan, the national television channel ofIndia, is one of the largest terrestrial networksin the world. It broadcasts a variety ofprogrammes from entertainment, educationalto sports, etc. for people of different age groups.

India publishes a large number ofnewspapers and periodicals annually. They areof different types depending upon theirperiodicity. Newspapers are published inabout 100 languages and dialects. Did youknow that the largest number of newspaperspublished in the country are in Hindi, followedby English and Urdu? India is the largestproducer of feature films in the world. Itproduces short films; video feature films andvideo short films. The Central Board of FilmCertification is the authority to certify bothIndian and foreign films.

International Trade

The exchange of goods among people, statesand countries is referred to as trade. The marketis the place where such exchanges take place.Trade between two countries is calledinternational trade. It may take place throughsea, air or land routes. While local trade iscarried in cities, towns and villages, state leveltrade is carried between two or more states.Advancement of international trade of acountry is an index to its economic prosperity.It is, therefore, considered the economicbarometer for a country.

In comparison with the other country,India has about 37,565 telephoneexchanges spread all over in the country.Make a comparison with any othercountry of your choice.

Fig.7.10 : Emergency call box on NH-8

India has one of the largest telecomnetworks in Asia. Excluding urban placesmore than two-thirds of the villages in Indiahave already been covered with SubscriberTrunk Dialling (STD) telephone facility. In

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As the resources are space bound, nocountry can survive without internationaltrade. Export and import are the componentsof trade. The balance of trade of a country isthe difference between its export and import.When the value of export exceeds the value ofimports, it is called a favourable balance oftrade. On the contrary, if the value of importsexceeds the value of exports, it is termed asunfavourable balance of trade.

India has trade relations with all the majortrading blocks and all geographical regions ofthe world. Among the commodities of export,whose share has been increasing over the lastfew years till 2004-05 are agriculture and alliedproducts (2.53 per cent), ores and minerals(9.12 per cent), gems and jewellery (26.75 percent) and chemical and allied products (24.45per cent), engineering goods( 35.63 per cent)and petroleum products (86.12 per cent)

The commodities imported to India includepetroleum and petroleum products (41.87 percent), pearls and precious stones (29.26 percent), inorganic chemicals (29.39 per cent),

coal, coke and briquettes (94.17 per cent),machinery (12.56 per cent). Bulk imports as agroup registered a growth accounting for 39.09per cent of total imports. This group includesfertilizers (67.01 per cent), cereals (25.23 percent), edible oils (7.94 per cent) and newsprint(5.51 per cent). International trade has undergone a sea change in the last fifteen years.Exchange of commodities and goods have beensuperseded by the exchange of information andknowledge. India has emerged as a softwaregiant at the international level and it is earninglarge foreign exchange through the export ofinformation technology.

Tourism as a Trade

Tourism in India has grown substantially overthe last three decades. Foreign tourist’s arrivalsin the country witnessed an increase of 23.5per cent during the year 2004 as against theyear 2003, thus contributing Rs 21,828 croreof foreign exchange.

Over 2.6 million foreign tourists visit Indiaevery year. More than 15 million people are

Prepare a project on the heritage tourism in India

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92 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II

directly engaged in the tourism industry.Tourism also promotes national integration,provides support to local handicrafts andcultural pursuits. It also helps in thedevelopment of international understandingabout our culture and heritage. Foreigntourists visit India for heritage tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism,medical tourism and business tourism.

Rajasthan, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir andtemple towns of south India are importantdestinations of foregin tourists in India. Thereis vast potential of tourism development in thenorth-eastern states and the interior parts ofHimalayas, but due to strategic reasons thesehave not been encouraged so far. However,there lies a bright future ahead for thisupcoming industry.

EXERCISES EXERCISES EXERCISES EXERCISES EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which two of the following extreme locations are connected by the east-west corridor?

(a) Mumbai and Nagpur (c) Mumbai and Kolkata

(b) Silcher and Porbandar (d) Nagpur and Siligudi

(ii) Which mode of transportation reduces trans-shipment losses and delays?

(a) Railways (c) Pipeline

(b) Roadways (d) Waterways

(iii) Which one of the following states is not connected with the H.V.J. pipeline?

(a) Madhya Pradesh (c) Gujarat

(b) Maharashtra (d) Uttar Pradesh

(iv) Which one of the following ports is the deepest land-locked and well-protected port along the east coast?

(a) Chennai (c) Tuticorin

(b) Paradip (d) Vishakhapatnam

(v) Which one of the following is the most important modes of transportationin India?

(a) Pipeline (c) Roadways

(b) Railways (d) Airways

(vi) Which one of the following terms is used to describe trade between two ormore countries?

(a) Internal trade (c) External trade

(b) International trade (d) Local trade

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) State any three merits of roadways.

(ii) Where and why is rail transport the most convenient means oftransportation?

(iii) What is the significance of the border roads?

(iv) What is meant by trade? What is the difference between internationaland local trade?

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93LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMY

3. Answer the following questions in about 120 words.

(i) Why are the means of transportation and communication called the lifelinesof a nation and its economy?

(ii) Write a note on the changing nature of the international trade in the lastfifteen years.

QUIZ DRIVE

1. Northern terminal of the North-south corridor.

2. The name of National Highway No.2.

3. The headquarter of the southern railway zone.

4. The rail gauge with a track width of 1.676 m.

5. The southern terminal of the National Highway No.7.

6. A Riverine Port.

7. Busiest railway junction in Northern India.

ACTIVITY

Start your search vertically, horizontally or diagonally and reach variousdestinations across the country!

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