TRANSPORT - NCERT

1 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 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 of these goods and services can beover three important domains of our earth land,water and air.

2 Based on these, TRANSPORT can alsobe classified into land, water and air far and wide. Today, the world hasbeen converted into a large village with the helpof efficient and fast moving has been able to achieve this withthe help of equally developed communicationsystem. Therefore, TRANSPORT , communicationand trade are complementary to each , India is well-linked with the rest ofthe world despite its vast size, diversity andlinguistic and socio-cultural , 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 this chapter, you will see how modernmeans of TRANSPORT and communication serveas life lines of our nation and its modernFig.

3 A long time, trade and TRANSPORT wererestricted to a limited space. With thedevelopment in science and technology, thearea of influence of trade and transporteconomy. It is thus, evident that a dense andefficient network of TRANSPORT andcommunication is a pre-requisite for local,national and global trade of INDIA IITRANSPORTR oadwaysIndia has one of the largest road networks inthe world, aggregating to about 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- -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 India, roads are classified in the followingsix classes according to their capacity.

4 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 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.

5 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.

6 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 : Ahmedabad- Vadodara ExpresswayFind out places linked by the NationalHighway 2 and 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 Suri Marg is called National , between Delhi and OF NATIONAL ECONOMYI ndia: National Highways2015-1684 CONTEMPORARY INDIA II Border Roads: Apart from these, BorderRoads Organisation a Government of Indiaundertaking constructs and maintainsroads in the bordering areas of the organisation was established in 1960for the development of the roads of strategicimportance in the northern and north-eastern border areas.

7 These roads haveimproved accessibility in areas of difficultterrain and have helped in the economicdevelopment of these Indian Railways is the largest publicsector undertaking in the country. The firsttrain steamed off from Mumbai to Thane in1853, covering a distance of 34 are all weather roads. Unmetalled roadsgo out of use in the rainy DensityThe length of road per 100 sq. km of areais known as density of roads. Distributionof road is not uniform in the country. Densityof all roads varies from only km inJammu and Kashmir to km in Kerala(as on 31 March 2011) with the nationalaverage of km (31 March 2011). Roadtransportation in India faces a number ofproblems. Keeping in view the volume oftraffic and passengers, the road network isinadequate.

8 About half of the roads areunmetalled and this limits their usageduring the rainy season. The NationalHighways are inadequate too. Moreover, theroadways are highly congested in cities andmost of the bridges and culverts are oldand narrow. However, in recent years fastdevelopment of road network has taken placein different parts of the countryRailwaysRailways 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 longerdistances. Apart from an important meansof TRANSPORT the Indian Railways have beena great integrating force for more than 150years.

9 Railways in India bind the economiclife of the country as well as accelerate thedevelopment of the industry and Indian Railway have a network of 7,133stations spread over a route length of 64,460km with a fleet of 9,213 locomotives, 53,220passenger service vehicles, 6,493 other coachvehicles and 2,29,381 wagons as on : Hilly TractsFig. : 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 may be made of cement,concrete or even bitumen of coal, therefore,2015-1685 LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMYFind out the current Railway zones and theirheadquarters. Also locate the headquartersof Railway zones on the map of : Railway year book 2010-11, Ministry of Railways, Govt.

10 Of Indian Railway is now reorganised into16 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 , 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.