HIRANANDANI FOUNDATION SCHOOL, POWAI

Subject: Geography (H.C.G. Paper 2)

Std: X
Chapter: Transport
Notes
 Importance of transport
• Transport helps in connecting one part of the country with the other,
it facilitates the movement of raw materials, fuel, machinery, etc., to
the points of production and finished goods to the points of
marketing and consumption.
• Transportation helps in the better utilization of the resources of the
backward areas by linking them with the more advanced areas.
• It removes scarcity of goods during any crisis.
• It helps in minimizing the effects of natural disasters.
• It brings in homogeneity and national integration in thought and
culture through easy movement of people and bringing them in
contact with each other.
 Means of Transport

Land Air Water

Roads Railways National International

Inland Seas
and Oceanic Routes
 Roads
India had paved roads from ancient times as is evident from the ruins of
Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. The earlier emperors connected their capitals with
other parts of their territories. The Mughal rulers were noted for building roads.
Sher Shah Suri built the famous Grand Trunk(GT) road to strengthen and
consolidate his empire. This road connected Kolkata and Peshawar. However,
road transport in its modern sense was quite limited in India before the Second
World War.
After India attained independence, a 20-year road plan to improve the conditions
of roads was initiated in 1961. Since then the road network has expanded
manifold in India. According to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),
at present India boasts of a huge network of 33lakh km making it second largest
network in the world. This network, which includes both paved and unpaved
roads, is categorized as National Highways, Expressways, State Highways,
major District roads, Rural and other roads.
However, about 40% of the villages in India still lack access to all weather roads
and remain isolated during monsoon season.
 National Highways
• The main roads which are constructed and maintained by the
Central Government are known as National Highways.
These are main highways running through the length and breadth of
the country connecting every major city and are the backbone of road
infrastructure. National Highways are designated as NH followed by
the State Highway numbers.
The traffic on National Highways has been growing due to
industrialization in the country. The Government is taking steps to
utilize latest technologies and improved management techniques to
provide hindrance-free traffic movement. This is being done by
widening roads, grade separation, construction of bypasses, bridges,
rail-road crossing etc.
 National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)

• NHAI is responsible for the development, maintenance and management of

National Highways. It was made operational in 1995 and is currently
undertaking the developmental activities under National Highway
Development Project (NHDP) in phases. All the phases are combined
together and are aimed at improvement of more than 25,000km or arterial
routes of National Highway Network to international standards.
• NHAI is also responsible for implementing other projects on National
Highways, primarily road connectivity to major ports in India.
• Besides NHAI, State Public Works Department (PWDs) and Border Road
Organisation (BRO) carry out the development and maintenance of the
National Highways.
 Major Projects Undertaken by NHAI

• Golden Quadrilateral: The GQ is the largest express highway

project in India. It connects India’s Four largest metropolies:
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and thus, forms
quadrilateral of sorts. Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad and Surat
are also served by this network. It was first phase of NHDP’s
Project. It consists of four / six lane express highways.
 Major Projects Undertaken by NHAI
• Golden Quadrilateral: The GQ is the largest
express highway project in India. It connects
India’s Four largest metropolies: Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and thus,
forms quadrilateral of sorts. Bengaluru,
Pune, Ahmedabad and Surat are also served
by this network. It was first phase of
NHDP’s Project. It consists of four / six lane
express highways.
• Economic Benefits:
* Interconnects many major cities and ports.
* Provides an impetus to truck transport.
* Enables the industrial growth of all small
towns through which it passes.
* Provides vast opportunities for transport
of
agricultural produce from hinterland to
major cities.
 North-South and East-West Corridors

• It is the largest ongoing highway

project in India. It is in the second
phase of the NHDP. It has 4 /6
lane expressways connecting
Srinagar, Kanyakumari,
Porbandar and Silchar.
 Express Highways
• Express Highways constitute the most significant feature of land transportation.
These highways are six / eight lane controlled access road network where entrance
and exit is controlled by the use of slip roads, designed to provide smooth high-speed
movement without any on-road obstacles like traffic or speed breakers.
• Freeways are the highest class of controlled access highways and are designed for
high speed vehicular traffic. NHAI has only two freeways in India; Eastern Freeway
and Western Freeway (or coastal freeway); to reduce traffic congestion in the island
city of Mumbai. Only cars and public buses are allowed on these. Bandra Worli Sea
link a part of Western Freeway, is the longest bridge above water in India.
Eastern and Western Freeway
 Major Expressways of India

• Agra-Lucknow Expressway: Six lane expressway, aims to increase connectivity

of towns and commercial centres north of Yamuna, it will have automatic traffic
management system aimed at reducing road accidents and helping even at the
time of fog.
 Yamuna Expressway

• It is six lane, controlled access expressway which connects Greater Noida with Agra. It
has reduced the travel time between Delhi and Agra to two hours. It enables farmers of
western UP to move their agricultural, horticulture and dairy products to major cities.
 Ahmedabad – Vadodara Expressway
• This was India’s first expressway, it has cut the journey between Ahmedabad and
Vadodara to less than one hour.
 Delhi – Gurgaon Expressway

• It is part of GQ Project, there are SOS telephones at every 1.5km and CCTV
surveillance, reduced travel time between Delhi and Gurgaon from 60 minutes to 20
minutes.
 Mumbai – Pune Expressway

• India’s first 6 lane, concrete high speed, tolled expressway, complete fencing to avoid
humans and animals crossing the expressway, no two wheelers / three wheelers
allowed.
Noida – Greater Noida Expressway
 Delhi – Noida Direct Flyway

• Eight lane, controlled access, tolled expressway.

 Panipat Expressway

• It is 10km elevated highway at Panipat in Haryana. It is a six-lane expressway which has been built
to decongest traffic on the busy Delhi-Amritsar route.
 Bengaluru-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor

• 4 to 6 lane 111km expressway in Karnataka.

 State Highways, District Roads, Rural Roads
• The State Highways are constructed and maintained by the State
Governments. They Provide linkage with National Highways, district
headquarters, important towns, tourists centres and minor ports within the
state.
• The District Roads are important roads within a district connecting areas of
production with markets. They also connect small towns with one another
or with the State Highways and National Highways.
• Rural roads in India form a substantial portion of the road network. These
roads constitute about 80% of the total road length in the country. They
provide vital links by moving the agricultural produce and the finished
goods of small-scale industries from the production centres to the
marketing centres.
• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna was launched by the Government of
India to provide connectivity to rural areas as part of poverty eradication
measure. The government has set up uniform technical and management
standards to ensure sustainable management of the rural roads.
 The Border Roads

• The Border Road Organisation (BRO) was set up to strengthen defence

preparedness and accelerating economic development through improvement of roads
along the northern and north-eastern boundary of the country.
• BRO has constructed the world’s highest road from Manali (Himachal Pradesh) to
Leh (Kashmir).
• Apart from the construction and maintenance of roads in strategically sensitive areas,
the BRO undertakes snow clearance in high altitude areas and construction of
airfields, buildings and permanent bridges.
 Advantages of Roadways

• It is through the roads that every village and hamlet can be reached.
• Construction cost is much lower than that of railway line.
• Roads can be constructed even in the areas of difficult terrain and
where railway lines do not exist.
• Roads offer door to door service and thereby, reduce the cost of
loading and unloading. Roads also help farmers to move their
perishable products quickly to the markets.
• The movement of goods is safer through road transport as the
chances of pilferage are lesser than in railways.
• Road transport supplements the other modes of transportation. It
provides link between railway station and ports and their hinterlands.
 Disadvantages of Roadways

• Many roads are unsurfaced and therefore, not suitable for vehicular traffic.
• Roads are not properly maintained. Poor road surfaces cause heavy loss in
wear and tear of vehicles.
• There are multiple check-posts, toll tax and octroi duties collection points
on the roads which bring down the speed of the traffic, waste time and
cause irritation to the commuters.
• Many roads have inadequate capacity, weak pavement, unbridged level
crossing and lack of wayside amenities and safety measures.
• The traffic on Indian roads, especially in cities is too high. Further, same
road is used by all the types of vehicles – high speed cars, trucks,
two-wheelers, animal driven carts, cyclists and even by animals. This
increase traffic time and cause congestion, pollution and road accidents.
RAILWAYS
• Railways constitute the principal mode of transportation for freight and
passengers.
• Indian Railways is one of the largest networks in the world. It operates
both, the long distance and the suburban rail systems.
• Currently, suburban networks operate in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi,
Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow.
• New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai have their own Metro
Networks.
• Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are mostly Electric Multiple
Units (EMUs). They usually have nine coaches or sometimes twelve to
handle rush hour traffic.
• The growth of Indian Railways in the past 150 years has been phenomenal.
Its huge size has put pressure on the centralised management system.
Therefore, to ease this pressure, the railway system has been divided into
17 zones. These division are the basic operating units.
• Indian Railways carry a huge variety of goods ranging from
mineral ores, fertilisers, petro-chemicals, agricultural produce,
iron and steel. Ports and major urban areas have their own
freight lines. Thus, railways help in accelerating the
development of industry and agriculture.
• Track System: Based on the width of the track, the Indian
Railways are divided into three categories. Broad gauge
(distance between rails is 1.676m). Metre Gauge (distance
between rail is 1 m). Narrow Gauge (distance between rail is
0.762 and 0.610m). Narrow gauge accounts for about 4%, and
is mainly confined to the hilly areas.
 Advantages of Railways

• Constitutes one of the most efficient and cost-effective forms of transportation.

• Helps in the easy movement of bulky goods and perishable commodities to
distant places.
• Transports raw materials to the production units and finished goods to the
markets.
• Have brought the villages closer to the cities and have helped to transfer new
ideas and innovations to the rural areas.
• Helps in reducing sufferings during natural calamities.
• Acts as an integrating force, knitting our huge country into one whole unit with
its huge network running throughout the country.
• Facilitates easy movement of police, troops and defence equipment.
• Provides comfortable journey as the trains have enough space to stretch legs and
move in the corridors. At night, one can sleep comfortably on the berths provided
in the trains.
• Safer and comfortable for families with babies and elders.
 Disadvantages of Railways

• Lacks flexibility of routes.

• Tracks cannot be laid in every region of the country like om the hilly
areas or remote forested areas.
• Train travel can be very long and tedious, especially when compared
to air travel.
• Tracks cannot be laid in every industrial region.
• Trains which run on coal produce lot of air and noise pollution.
• Trains are limited to land travel.
 Air Transport

• The Airports Authority of India came into existence on April1, 1995 with the merger of the
then two authorities – National Airports Authority and International Airports Authority of
India. It is the nodal agency responsible for providing safe, efficient Air Traffic Services
and aeronautical communication services in the country.
• The air transport in India was managed by two corporations – Air India and Indian Airlines.
However, the two entities, i.e., Air India and Indian Airlines were merged into one in 2007
and is called Air India.
• Apart from Air India there also exists a number of private scheduled operators, like,
Spicejet Ltd., Go Airlines (India) Pvt. Ltd. Inter Globe Aviation Ltd. (Indigo), providing a
wide choice of flights and connectivity to various parts of India and abroad.
• Three Cargo Airlines – Blue Aviation Pvt. Ltd., Deccan Cargo and Express Logistics
Pvt. Ltd are operating scheduled cargo services in the country.
• Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd was established in 1985 with the primary objective of
providing helicopter support services to the oil sector in offshore exploration, operate
in the hilly and inaccessible areas and make available charter flights for promotion of
tourism.
 Advantages of Airways

• Air transport is particularly significant for a country like India

in which owing to her vast size long distances have to be
covered between important cities.
• It is the fastest and comfortable mode of transport. It connects
the far flung and remote areas of the country.
• The speed and ease with which aeroplanes can cross mountain
barriers, sandy deserts, large expanses of water or forests make
the air transport indispensable.
• Air transport is of particular importance during natural
calamities. It is used to air-lift people from the affected areas
and to air-drop food, medicines and other necessary things to
calamity affected people.
 Disadvantages of Air Transport

• Air transport is costly.

• It depends on weather conditions. Flights are often delayed due
to bad weather.
• Air transport is run on petroleum which is a non-renewable
source of energy.
• Air transport can carry small tonnage but it has high freight
charges.
 Water Transport
• India is endowed with an extensive network of waterways in the form of rivers,
canals, backwaters, creeks and a long coastline accessible through the seas and the
oceans.
• Water transport can be divided into two categories – Inland Waterways and
Oceanic Waterways.
• Inland Waterways: Include rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks which are deep
enough to allow the ships and boats to navigate safely. These waterways must also
be free of barriers such as waterfalls and rapids. However, the rivers of Peninsular
India are not ideal for navigation. [GR] First, these rivers are seasonal as they are
rain-fed. Second, these rivers are comparatively shorter than the rivers of
northern India. Third, these rivers are marked by a number of waterfalls.
• Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge
of waterways in India. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure
in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also
administration and regulation. The IWAI has declared five inland waterways as
National Waterways.
 National Waterways

• National Waterways No.1 (NW-1): It comprises

Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System which connects
Haldia, Kolkata, Patna, Varanasi, Allahabad.
 Why is the river Ganga navigable from its mouth right up to Allahabad?

• Ganga is a perennial river fed by monsoon rains in the rainy season and melting of
snow on the lofty mountains during dry season.
• It is joined by Yamuna, Son, Ramganga, Gomti, Ghagra, Gandak, Kosi which
increase the depth of water in Ganga, which is more than 10m up to Allahabad.
• The slope of the Ganga is gradual and the river bed is free from stones and silt.
 NW2

• National Waterways No. 2: The river Brahmaputra connecting Dhubri-Pandu.

The NW2 connects the North East Region with Kolkata and Haldia ports through
Bangladesh and Sundarbans waterways.
 NW3

• National Waterways 3: It runs from Kollam to Kottapuram. It is one of the most

navigable and tourism potential area in India and has much to offer to the potential
tourists.
 NW 4

• National Waterways 4: It connects the States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and the
Union Territory of Puducherry. It comprises Kakinada-Puducherry stretch of Canal
and Kalurelly Tank, stretches of Godavari and Krishna.
 NW 5
• National Waterways 5: It comprises Talcher-Dharma stretch of river Bhahmani,
Goenkhali-Charbatia stretch of East Coast Canal. It connects Matai river along with
Mahanadi river.
 NW6
• National Waterways 6: It is a proposed waterways between Lakhimpur and Bhanga of
the Barak river. It will help cargo transport through Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram,
Manipur, Tripura.
 Port Harbour

• Ports are man-made commercial places • Harbours are natural or created places,
built along the coastline. connecting a piece of land with a large
waterbody, which serve as ports.
• The location of ports is chosen along the • Natural harbors are surrounded by land on
coastline where water is navigable and is most sides but have an entrance point to
close to land facilities and infrastructure. the sea.
• The main purpose of ports is loading and
unloading of cargo ships. • Harbours are utilized mainly for providing
safe parking or anchorage of ships.
• Ports are very large with buildings and • When natural harbours have all the
warehouses for storing goods and facilities of ports they serve as ports. For
well-built transport system. example, Mumbai is a natural harbour and
also the biggest port in India.
 Oceanic Waterways

• India has a long coastline forming one of the biggest peninsulas in the world. It has
12 major ports. Oceanic waterways constitute an important role in the transport
sector of India’s economy. Ocean routes handle 95% of India’s foreign trade by
volume and about 70% by value. Besides international trade, these routes are also
used for transportation between the islands and the rest of the country.
• Major ports handle over 80% of all cargo traffic.
• Central Shipping Ministry administers the major ports.
 Kolkata (West Bengal)

• It is a riverine port located on the bank of the Hooghly River. It handles

diversified commodities coming from SE Asian countries.
 Haldia (West Bengal)

• Haldia has been developed on the river Hooghly to relieve pressure on Kolkata.
Haldia is a seaport (near mouth of river Hooghly one of the distributary of river
Ganga).
 Paradip (Odisha)

• Located on the coast of Odisha and handles iron and coal transport.
 Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh)

• It is India’s deepest landlocked port handling crude oil and petroleum products.
 Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
• It is the second largest port in terms of volume of traffic handled and is the oldest
artificial harbour. It handles petroleum products, crude oil, fertilisers, iron ore.
 Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu)

• Handles mainly coal, salt, edible oil, dry cargo and petroleum products.
 Ennore Port (Tamil Nadu)

• It is located about 24km north of Chennai Port. It is the first port in India which is a
public company. It is a corporate entity (Ennore Port Ltd.) and not a Port Trust like
other major ports in India. It is a satellite port mean to decongest and improve the
environmental quality at the busy Chennai Port.
• Ennore port get its act together as a corporate entity. Ennore Port Ltd, the
state-owned entity that runs Ennore port in Tamil Nadu, has finally freed itself from
the grip of operational uncertainty and ambiguity. ... Ennore port was established as
a firm under the companies law when it was opened in 2001.
• Ennore, thus, is in a better position to compete with the ports that are outside the
control of the Indian government and have full freedom to fix rates based on market
forces. Ports outside the control of the Indian government have attracted more
investors because of this freedom.
 Kandla (Gujarat)

• It is a tidal port and free trade zone located at the eastern end of Rann of Kutch.
• The water levels within the port are subject to change with the ocean tides. In a non-tidal
port, there is usually a river feeding the water levels in the port, minimizing the effects of
the moon and the tidal changes.
• Free-trade zone, also called foreign-trade zone, formerly free port, an area within
which goods may be landed, handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and reexported
without the intervention of the customs authorities.
 Mumbai

• It is a natural harbour, biggest port, handles maximum traffic (crude oil, dry cargo)
 Jawaharlal Nehru (Nava Sheva) Port
• It is the biggest ultra-modern seaport off Mumbai. It is equipped with modern
facilities having mechanized container berths for handling dry cargo.
 Mormugao (Goa)

• It is a natural harbour at the entrance of the Zuari estuary in Goa.

 New Mangalore (Karnataka)
• It handles the export of iron ore of Kudremukh and imports of petroleum products,
fertilisers, edible oils, etc.
 Kochi (Kerala)

• It is a natural harbour. It handles the export of tea, coffee and spices and import
petroleum.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Waterways

Advantages:
• It is cheapest means of transport.
• Most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky material.
• Fuel-efficient and eco-friendly mode.
• Less traffic in comparison to road and air transport.
Disadvantages:
• It depends on weather condition.
• It needs long travelling hours which causes sea sickness.
• Water transport is limited to the areas where rivers are navigable and oceanic routes
exist.