WATER TRANSPORT IN SOUTH INDIA

PRESENTED BY SUHELICA ROY & SHILINDRA BANERJEE

COURSE- BATA 2020-23
 INTRODUCTION TO WATER TRANSPORT
Water transport is the process of transport a watercraft, such as a barge, boat, ship or
sailboat, over a body of water, such as a sea, ocean, lake, canal or river. Water
transport in India has played a significant role in the country’s economy and is
indispensable to foreign trade. 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 oceans. It is one of the cheapest and the oldest mode
of transport in India. Ship transport is primarily used for the carriage of people
and non-perishable goods, generally referred to as cargo.
Water transport consists of:
(i) Inland water transport
(ii) Ocean transport
 SOUTH INDIA
South India, also known as Peninsular India is the area
encompassing the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union
territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and
Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India’s area. Covering the
southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is
bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in
the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. Godavari, Krishna,
Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-
perennial sources of water. The majority of the people in South
India speak one of the 4 major Dravidian languages: Telugu,
Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. Some states/UT's also
recognise minority languages as Urdu in Telangana, French in
Puducherry, Bengali in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Tulu
which is spoken in Dakshina Kannada and some parts of Udupi
District of Karnataka.
 WATER TRANSPORT IN SOUTH INDIA
A total of 89 ports are situated along the coast: Tamil Nadu (15), Kerala (17), Andhra
Pradesh (12), Karnataka (10), Lakshadweep (10), Pondicherry (2) and Andaman &
Nicobar (23). Major port include Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Mangalore, Tuticorin,
Ennore, Kakinada and Kochi.
Name City State
Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh
Port
Chennai Port Chennai Tamil Nadu
New Mangalore Mangalore Karnataka
Port
V.O. Thoothukudi Tamil Nadu
Chidambaranar
Port
Kamarajar Port Chennai Tamil Nadu
Cochin Port Kochi Kerala
Kakinada Port Kakinada Andhra Pradesh
 ABOUT ANDHRA PRADESH
Andhra Pradesh lies in the south eastern region of India covering
an area of 1,62,975 sq km. The largest city and commercial hub of
the state, Visakhapatnam is the capital of Andhra Pradesh. It is
bordered by Telangana to the north-west, Chhattisgarh to the
north, Odisha to the north-east, Tamil Nadu to the south,
Karnataka to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. It has the
second largest coastline in India of about 974 km. It is also known
as the land of the world-famous diamond Koh-i-Noor and many
other global known diamonds due to their presence in its Kollur
Mine. It can be also known as the “rice bowl of India”. Its official
language is Telugu which is the 11th most spoken language in the
world. Andhra Pradesh comprises two major regions, namely
Rayalaseema in the south-west and Coastal Andhra in the east and
north-east. The state has a total of 13 districts and also has a union
territory, Yanam- a district of Puducherry which lies to the south of
Kakinada in the Godavari delta on the eastern side of the state.
 WATER TRANSPORT IN ANDHRA PRADESH
Andhra Pradesh accounts for 12% of the country’s total
coastline with one major and 14 non-major ports. The
state’s ports handled 73 million tons of cargo in financial
year. The Central Government has started to develop the
waterways in India. NW-4 is a 1,095 km i.e., 680 miles long
waterway in India. It connects Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, and the Union territory i.e., Puducherry. The
Andhra Pradesh government is focusing on the development
of NW-4 which runs along the Coromandel coast through
Kakinada, Eluru, Kommamur, Buckingham Canals and
through parts of Krishna and Godavari rivers from Kakinada
to Puducherry. NW-4 will be developed in 3 stages. The first
phase will be from Kakinada to Muktyala on the Krishna
River via Vijayawada. The second phase will be from
Vijayawada to Pedaganjam. Both the stages will be
completed at a cost of 7,015 crore.
 ABOUT TAMIL NADU
Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian
subcontinent and is bordered by the union territory of
Puducherry and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and
Andhra Pradesh. It is bounded by the Eastern Ghats on the
north, by the Nilgiri Mountains, the Meghamalai Hills,
and Kerala on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, by
the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait on the southeast,
and by the Indian Ocean on the south. The state shares
a maritime border with the nation of Sri Lanka. Tamil
Nadu- also the land of Tamils is known for its temples and
architecture, food, movies and classical Indian dance and
Carnatic music. The languages spoken here are
predominantly Tamil and English in the larger cities and
metro capital Chennai. It is the historical home of the
famous Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava kingdoms which
thrived in ancient and medieval India.
 WATER TRANSPORT IN TAMIL NADU
Tamil Nadu, has a highly developed, dense, and modern
transportation infrastructure, encompassing both
public and private transport. Its capital city, Chennai is
well-connected by land, sea, and air and serves as a
major hub for entry into South India. It has 3 major
seaports at Chennai, Ennore, Thoothukudi. There are 11
other ports. Chennai Port is an artificial harbour
situated on the Coromandel coast and is India's second
busiest container hub, handling containers. Ennore Port
handles all the coal and ore traffic in Tamil Nadu. The
volume of cargo in the ports grew by 13 per cent during
2005. Main components of the project include dredging
and excavation to develop navigational channel,
construction of three terminals and navigational locks
at Kelambakkam, and installation of navigational aids.
 ABOUT KERALA
Kerala is popularly known as “God’s Own Country”. It is one of the most sought-after
tourist destinations in the world. This exotic land is renowned for its rich cultural
heritage, tropical climate, palm fringed beaches, misty hill stations, health resorts,
wildlife sanctuaries, enchanting art forms, grand festivals, palaces and the serenity of
the backwaters. Kerala tourism has travel information centers all over the state which
assist and provide information to travelers about all of Kerala’s tourist destinations,
hotels, transport and travel guidelines.
Kerala Info->
Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
Currency: Indian Rupee
Population: 34.8 million
Language: Malayalam
Area: 38863 sq.km.
 WATER TRANSPORT IN KERALA
Inland water navigation system is the integral part of
transportation in Kerala. There are 41 rivers, several backwaters,
canals and lakes in Kerala, which offers a good network of water
transport within Kerala. The backwaters of Kerala such as
Ashtamudy and Vembanadu Lake provide a good means of inland
navigation. Inland water transportation is considered as the most
efficient, economic and environment friendly means of
transportation in Kerala. Public ferry services, speed-boats and
even houseboats or ‘ketuvallams’ are other popular modes of
transport in the vast network of waterways in the backwaters.
Coastal Shipping and Inland Navigation Department (CSIND),
Stare Water Transport Department (SWTD) and Kerala Shipping
and Inland Navigation Corporation Ltd (KSINC) are the agencies
which are responsible for the development of Inland Water
Transport (IWT) in the districts of Kerala like Alappuzha,
Kottayam, Kollam, Ernakulam, etc.
 ABOUT KARNATAKA
Karnataka also known as
Karunadu is a state in
southwest India with Arabian
Sea coastlines. Kannada is the
principal language used to
communicate by the people
of Karnataka. The capital,
Bangalore is a high-tech hub
known for its shopping and
nightlife. To the southwest,
Mysore is home to lavish
temples including Mysore
Palace, Hampi which contains
ruins of Hindu temples,
elephant stables and a stone
chariot.
 WATER TRANSPORT IN KARNATAKA
Karnataka has 11 ports, including the New Mangalore
port, a major port and ten minor ports, of which three
were operational in 2012. The New Mangalore port
was incorporated as the ninth major port in India on 4
May 1974. This port handled 32.04 million tonnes of
traffic in the fiscal year 2006–07 with 17.92 million
tonnes of imports and 14.12 million tonnes of exports.
The port also handled 1015 vessels including 18 cruise
vessels during the year 2006–07. Foreigners can enter
Mangalore through the New Mangalore Port with the
help of Electronic visa. Cruise ships from
Europe , North America  and UAE arrive at New
Mangalore Port to visit the tourist places across
Coastal Karnataka . The port of Mangalore is among
the 4 major ports of India that receive over 25
international cruise ships every year.
 Conclusion and way forward
It is important to understand the physical environment
includes elements of the natural environment such as
climate and topographical features, including water
features of harbours, bays and rivers and land features
of peninsulas, ridges, slopes, and elevations. We should
always remember that “One size does not fit all” while
doing the planning for public transport in cities. One
such mode of transport that is often forgotten when
bettering the public transport in a city in the Inland
Water Transport System (IWT), which is one of the
most common modes of transport for the residents of
cities in Kerala, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, etc.
An integrated network of road, rail and inland waterways
can help in the development of Resilient Transportation
System (RTS) in India. Interchange convenience, travel
comfort, use of superior technology is key to the success
of road and water interconnected network. Following are
the few key enabling steps for the efficient IWT ecosystem
in India:
• Introduce enabling policy and regulation at the national
and state level. Inter-state collaborations, so that one can
learn from each other and implement the best and the
most cost-effective ideas.
• Develop a plan for necessary basic infrastructure to
support IWT.
• Promote electric and solar-powered boats, at IWT routes.
• A strategy must include steps to decrease the negative
impact on the bio-diversity due to IWT implementation.
References:- By Shilindra Banerjee
• Author - Shrabani Sharma and Doctor Parveen Kumar, January 2020 edition of Urban
Transport infrastructure Magazine (Issue 7,Vol ll.) urbansportsnews.com
• Author- Sunil Shaw, Blog Transport India Magazine (www.blogtransportindia.in)
• Expresswebdesk – The Indian Express Magazine (www.indianexpress.com)

By Suhelica Roy
• www.yourarticlelibrary.com
• www.shutterstock.com
• www.wikipedia.org

Bibliography
THANK YOU!