Q1. Give a comparative account of the developmet of River Water Transport in pre-colonial and post-independence periods in India. Highlight the role of River Transport in regional development. (2004)
Answer :
The river water transport in India dates back to great antiquity, to the days of Indus Valley Civilization when most of the trade was carried through the river waterway. Many towns such as Harappa, Mohanjodari, Lothal etc. were favourably located on the river banks. The accounts of Megasthenes and Arien also reveal the existence of navigation in 17 rivers of Ganga and its tributaries and 13 rivers of Indus and its tributaries.
Apart from Indus, the chief waterway of North India. during pre-colonial period was provided by Ganga and its tributaries through which transportation was possible from Allahabad to Varanasi, Patna and even up to Dhaka in Bengal. Renell has given a good account of the development of river transport during that period. He says that both the rivers of Ganga and Brahmaputra have such an extensive network in the whole of Bengal that any part of this region is accessible through them. Contemporary accounts reveal the transport of ten thousand tonnes of salt per year through river waterway from Agra to Bengal alone.
Before the advent of railway, in 1855, the bulk of the country’s products were carried through river waterways. Upto 1865, large steamers used to ply in Brahmaputra upto Dibrugarh, from Patna to 1120 km upstream Garhmukteshwar in Ganga and upto Agra in Yamuna. This service was available on a regular basis. Between Patna and Bengal in the ganga river, different ships used to ply apart from big and small boats. Ports were favourably located on the river mouths where goods were collected. Bridges and ghats were constructed at many places during that period for providing trade facilities.
Later on the development of faster means of transport like railways and roadways and Britisher’s partisan policy towards indigenous trade led to the deterioration in the importance of river water transport and one time national service was reduced to a service of local importance. In the post-independence period, presently the contribution of inland waterways to the total transport in India is only one per cent.
In the post-independence period the Indian Government has recognized the importance of river water transport. According to an estimate of Transport Ministry of India, the total length of navigable inland waterways is 19000 km in which rivers contribute 15000 km and canals are 4000km long. 1000 km of total river wateway is navigable all through the year. Only a length of 3700 km of major rivers is navigable by mechanised crafts and this aspect severaly reduces the capacity of river transport to compete with other faster modes of transport. About 160 lakh tonnes of cargo is annually moved by inland water transport. The most important waterways of the country are: The Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hugli rivers, the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers, the delta and lower courses of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada and Tapi rivers, etc.
After independence, several efforts have been made to redevelop river water transport. Ganga-Brahmaputra Water Transport Board was established in First Five Year Plan in 1952. In the subsequent Five Year Plans, crores of rupees were spent for constructing inland ports/depots, canals, for deepening of existing canals, development of waterways, providing facilities on waterways, etc.
The Central Indland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC) with its headquarters at Kolkata was set up in 1967 with the responsibility of operation, management and development of inland waterways in the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hugli, Sundarbans and Brahmaputra rivers. It is operating regular cargo services between Kolkata and Pandu (near Guwahati), between Kolkata and Karimganj (Assam), Kolkata-Bangladesh and between Haldia and Patna.
Another body, the Inland Waterway Authority of India, constituted in 1986, is entrusted with the responsibility of development; maintenance and regulation of national waterways. The Government has identified 10 important waterways to declare them as National Waterways to promote the development of inland navigation in the country. Of these, following four have already been declared as national waterways:
- N.W.-I: Allahabad to Haldia (1620 km)
- N.W.-II: Sadia to Dhubri (891 km)
- N.W. – III: Kollam to Kottapuram (Keral, 168 km)
- N.W.-IV (Proposed): Kakinada to Marak-kanam (1100 km)
IWAI had drawn up a plan of Vision 2000 to make an investment of about Rs 8000 crores over the next 20 years for the development of inland water transport. Moreover the Central Water Commission is considering the viability of an ambtious project of inter linking the rivers of North India with the peninsular rivers. This will greatly benefit the river water transport also.
The river water transport can contribute significantly in the regional development of the country. This is the cheapest mode of transport and except in the maintainance of ports/jetties, canals etc; not much money is involved in its maintenance. We have already seen that it had played a major part in the growth of trade and regional development in North India during pre-colonial period. Even today it can play an important role in reducing the production cost of industries. In carrying minerals and bulky cargo it can be immensely useful. There are some regions like the deltaic regions of Ganga-Brahmaputra where it is difficult and costly to construct roads and bridges across the numerous distributaries, river waterway can be a good mode of transport facilitating economic development of region.
Q2. Discuss the growing importance of ports in foriegn trade of India. (2003)
Answer :
Ports are places where sea routes and land routes meet. Hence, ports are gateways of foriegn trade. They connect or in other words, they are the origin and destination points of sea-water transport, which is energy efficient and a comparatively cheaper mode of transport especially, where there is long haul traffic and heavy bulk commodities.
India is situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean. On its western side, lies the oil-rich countries of Middle-East and developing countries of Africa and on its eastern side, lies the tiger economies of South-East Asia and Australia. The country has a long coastline of over 7,500 kms. This long coastline is studded with 12 major ports and 181 minor ports.
Ports handle bulk of the goods exported from India and those imported into India. The total turnover of foriegn trade has been steadily rising since the beginning of the planning era, as shown by the following table:
| Year | Total Volume of Foriegn Trade |
| 1950-51 | 1250.85 |
| 1970-71 | 3269.36 |
| 1990-91 | 75746.20 |
| 1998-99 | 375089.00 |
| 1999-00 | 429246.00 |
Source: India 2003
The rapid growth in the volume of foreign trade has been made possible by the development of facilities at the major ports of the country. These major ports handle about 90% of our foriegn trade.
The major ports on the west coast are Kandla, Mumbai, Marmagao, New Manglore, Kochi and Jawaharlal Nehru port (of new Mumbai). On the east coast, the major ports are Tuticorin, Ennore, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata-Haldia. Following figure shows the major ports of India:
Among these major ports, J.L. Nehru port, Nhava Sheva is a world class port equipped with all modern facilities including mechanical container berth. A new container terminal with two berths has been constructed in the Ninth Plan. The port has adequate space for expansion also. This new port is meant to relieve the congestion at the Mumbai port.
Along the western coast, Mumbai is the largest and most important port. The opening of the Suez Canal boosted up its trade as the port became nearer to the west. Bulk of the traffic handled by this port consists of petroleum products, textiles, cotton, capital goods, chemical, etc. The port handled a cargo traffic of about 7 million tonnes in 1950-51, which incrased to 33.73 million tonnes in 1996-97.
Kandla is principally an import port. It handles petroleum, fertilizers, salt, cotton, cement, edible oils, sugar, tea, etc. The port handled a total cargo traffic of 33.73 million tonnes in 1996-97, which is expected to reach 97.8 million tonnes by 2001-02. The port is being modernised to handle this huge traffic.
Marmagao is country’s leading iron ore-exporting port, handling about 50% of total iron ore exports from India (mostly to Japan). With the opening of the Konkan railway, its importance has been enhanced and it is emerging as a multi-commodity port.
New Manglore handles iron ore from Kudremukh mines, fertilizers, granite stones, coffee, casheunuts etc. Kochi is a natural port situated close to the Suez-Colombo route. It handles petroleum products, fertilizers, raw materials (copra, coconut oil), coir goods, tea, etc.
New Tuticorin port handles mainly tea, cotton and cotton textiles, machinery, coal, cardmoms, etc. Artificial harbour of Chennai is an important port of South India. The main items handled are crude petroleum and petroleum products, fertilisers, iron ore, coal, cotton, machinery, chemical, etc. Plans are under way to construct container terminal and extend quay area and berths.
The deepest and natural port of Vishakhapatnam can accomodate 5 ships alongside and has special arrangement for expeditious handling of iron ore, mangnese ore, etc. Its main exports are iron ore, timber, leather goods, etc. while major imports are petroleum, fertilizers, chemicals, machniery, etc.
Paradeep is a deep water and all weather port in Orissa, which handles mainly iron ore, coal and dry cargo. Kolkata,a riverine port, handles a variety of cargo. Tea, Jute goods, machinery and capital goods are handled by this port. The new port of Haldia has been developed to handle deep draft vessels which can not proceed to Kolkata. Haldia has also facilities for bulk handling of coal and crude oil. In addition, a new major port at Ennore, 25 km north of Chennai, has been constructed with ADB assistance.
During the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07), it is proposed to enhance capacity and improve productivity in major ports with focus on measures aimed at modernisation, rendering cost-effective services, enhancement of service quality, commercialisation through corporatisation and increased private sector participation. The capacity of major ports is proposed to be increased to 470 million tonnes by the end of Tenth Plan. All these initiatives/steps vindicate the growing importance of ports in foreign trade.
In consonance with the general policy of liberlisation/globalisation which envisages increased international trade, the port sector of our country has been thrown open to private sector participation. The objective is to improve efficiency and productivity of the ports.
In order to promote exports of the country, four Export Processing Zones (EPZ) have been set up by the government. Among these, two are at Chennai and Vishakhapatnam. Besides, the EPZs at Kandla, Santa Cruz (Mumbai) and Kochi have been converted into Special Economic Zone (SEZ). These are ample evidence of growing importance of ports in export promotion.
Sagar Mala Project: Realising the importance of ports, the government has announced on 15th August, 2003 an ambitious ‘Sagarmala Project’ envisaging modernisation and capacity expansion of major ports of eastern and western coast. New ports will also be established under the project. The project will cost 80 thousand crore to 1 lakh crore rupees over the next 8 to 10 year period in which, there will be participation of private sector also.
Q3. Discuss the oil and natural gas pipeline networks in India. Highlight their complementary role in regional development. (2002)
Answer :
Pipelines are most convenient, efficient and economical mode of transporting liquids like petroleum, petroleum products, natural gas, water, milk, etc. Even solids can also be transported through pipelines after converting them into sherry.
Petroleum is a compact and convenient liquid fuel, mainly used as motive power. It has revolutionised transportation, thus positively affected the economy of the world. It can be easily transported from the producing areas to the consuming areas with the help of tankers, but more effciently and conveniently through pipelines.
Transportation by pipeline is a new development in India. The country had a network of 5,035 km in 1980 which rose to 7,000 in 1996.
The first pipeline in India was laid in Assam to bring crude oil to Noonmati, which was further extended to Barauni in Bihar. It is 1,167 km long. It has been extended to Kanpur in UP.
The pipeline between Naharkatia and Nunamati became operative in 1962 and that between Noonmati and Barauni in 1964. Its extension to Haldia and Kanpur was completed in 1966.
An important pipeline has been laid from Salaya in Gujarat to Mathura in UP. This is 1256 km pipeline which supplies crude oil to Mathura refinery. From Mathura, it has been extended to Panipat and further to Jalandhar. It has also been extended to Koyali in Gujarat.
Another pipeline connects Mumbai to Pune.
Rajandhe and Maurigram in West Bengal have also been connected by pipeline.
Natural gas usually accompanies petroleum accumulation. Whenever a well for oil is drilled, it is natural gas which is available before oil is struck.
Natural gas is fast becoming an important source of energy in India. The recoverable reserves of gas as on 1994 were around 700 billion cubic metre. The production has also picked up from a mere 0-17 BCM to 30 BCM in 1998.
Discovery of gas made rapid strides after 1985. Oil strikes at Cauvery offshore and at Nanda in Kambhat basin, Tanot in Jaisalmer basin and the most important, the South basin.
During 1990 oil/gas structure had been discovered in Adiyakkamangalam in Tamil Nadu, Andada in Gujarat, Khovaghat in Assam, Lingla in Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai offshore and Kutch offshore.
Now recently, the Reliance company has struck Natural Gas at Krisna-Godawary delta.
The only important gas pipeline in India is Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdispur (HBJ) pipeline. It is 1,750 km long and connects Hazira in Maharashtra to Bijapur in MP to Jagdishpur in UP. It supplies gas to a number of fertilizer plant viz: Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan and Aonla, Auraiya and Shahjahanpur in UP. It is being extended upto Delhi, so that enough gas is made available to the city.
More petroleum pipeline have been planned and are at different stages of completion. The most significant being the proposed pipeline from Kandla and Viramgram in Gujarat to Bhatinda in Punjab. It will serve some of the important stations including Panipat, Jodhpur and Kota. Some of the other proposed pipelines being—Kanpur-Bina, Mangalore-Chennai, Vijaywada-Vizag, Mumbai-Manmad, Haldia-Budge.The pipelines help in saving the risk of transportation; it is cost effective and environmental friendly.
Q4. Analyse the recent trends in Indian International Trade. (2000)
Answer :
Indian international trade has witnessed fundamental changes in its volume and pattern after independence and more so in the recent years. The recent trends can be analysed under following heads.
- Unfavorable trade Balance: After independence import of food grains, raw materials, machinery for industries and heavy prices of petroleum products led to mounting trade deficit. The trade deficit has increased to 41658 crores in 1999-2000.
- Increasing Import of capital goods and New Tachnology: After GATT there has been more liberalisation of imports to promote inflow of new technology and make Indian manufacturers competitive at world level.
- Direction of Trade: The direction of India’s trade shows sufficient diversification and greater consistency in our exports to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries including the European union and larger dispersal to areas like OPEC, Eastern Europe and other developing countries. More than half of countries trade is carried with OECD.
- Increasing Pre-dominance of Manufacturers in Export: With industrialisation gaining ground large quantities of manufactured goods of a great variety and range such as engineering goods, chemical products, machine tools, readymade garments, medicines, computer softwares etc are finding place in our exports. The following table shows the principal commodities of our export.
| Commodity | Percentage Share(2001-02 |
| 1.Gems and Jewelry | 16.7 |
| 2.Readymade Garments | 11.4 |
| 3.Textiles, other than RMG | 10.7 |
| 4.Engineering goods | 15.9 |
| 5.Chemical products | 13.8 |
| 6.Crude & Petroleum products | 4.8 |
| 7.Leather & manufactures | 4.4 |
| 8.Marine products | 2.8 |
| 9.Others | 19.5 |
| 100.0 |
- New Trading Partners: Prior to independence U.K. was the main trading partner. Presently along with U.K., USA, Russia, Germany, Japan and OPEC have emerged as main trading partners for the country.
- Changes in Imports: With the growing industrialization and organisation, petroleum, capital goods and consumer goods are dominating the composition of our imports as shown by the following table:
| 1.POL | 27.2 |
| 2.Pearls and precious stones | 9.0 |
| 3.Capital goods | 11.4 |
| 4.Electronic goods | 7.4 |
| 5.Gold & Silver | 8.8 |
| 6.Chemicals | 5.4 |
| 7.Edible oils | 2.6 |
| 8.Others | 28.2 |
| 100 |
- Numerous Bilateral Trade Agreements: India has entered into trade agreements with a number of countries and is giving thrust on trade agreements with regional groups such as ASEAN, SAARC etc. for the diversification of its trade.
- Trade Policy: In clear departure from a controlled regulated and managed trade policy, since 1992 India’s trade policy has two major objectives of promoting exports and regulating the imports through import substitution to achieve favourable trade balance. Q5. Role of rural market centers in fostering intra and inter-regional trade in India (1999)
Q5. Role of rural market centers in fostering intra and inter-regional trade in India (1999)
Answer :
Trading activity in a country can be of two types:
- Intra-regional trade i.e. exchange of goods within a region
- Inter-regional trade taking place between regions.
The regions may vary widely in extent. Geographically also there can be mountainous region, plain region, coastal region, desert region etc. No region is self-sufficient in all its need, hence inter-regional trade takes place. But the volume and composition of inter-regional trade is largely affected by volume and composition of intra-regional trade. What is important is that intra-regional and inter-regional trade complement each other. It is this complimentary function which is performed by rural market centres.
Rural markets are lowest level markets serving rural area both for selling surplus agricultural goods and supplying the needs of the rural folk. Role of rural market centres in fostering intra and inter-regional trade con be analysed, in the light of above discussion, under following points:
- Trading economy needs a centre of collection and distribution. Micro-level distribution and collection can only be performed by rural market centres.
- Rural markets have been the focal point of intra-regional trade. It collects surplus rural produce.
- Such rural market centres transport surplus produce to high order market for inter-regional trade. Thus these rural markets serve as a link between intra and inter regional trade.
- The rural population of a region also require many manufactured items such as soaps, clothings, matches etc. and agricultural inputs. Thus rural markets become consumer centre for the products of far-flung areas. This factor also facilitates inter-regional trade.
- Rural markets serve as a nucleus of a rural area, providing all the basic services to the people such as machine repair, tyre and tubes, tailoring, banking services, medical facility by a health centre, agriculture and animal husbandry extension services. This promotes intra-regional trade.
- It is a place for exchange of information about prevailing prices, new innovations and government schemes etc.
Till 1997 over 7000 markets were brought under Market Regulation Acts of different states and U.Ts. However, adequate governing mechanism for promoting rural markets and exploit its usefulness is lacking. Under IRDP emphasis has been given on the development of regulated markets.
Q6. Critically examine the complementary and competitive character of the Indian rail routes and the road network. (1999)
Answer :
Transport system is a mirror of economic development and material prosperity. The different forms of transport such as railways, roadways, airways and waterways serve different needs. They compete with each other in a certain context but in another context they are complementary to one another.
Competition between different modes of transport can be taken as diversion from one mode to the other at the cost of the former. In such a situation there occurs the sub-optimal utilisation of the capacity in that mode of transport which is facing competition. Complementarity, on the other hand, can be understood as that relationship between different modes of transport in which one mode helps the other mode of transport and is helped by the other mode in a reciprocal manners. In this case optimum utilisation of both the modes takes place.
Complementary and competitive character of different modes of transport is more prominent in case of railways and roadways. The apparent reason is that transport system of India is dominated by these two modes of transport.
Before examining their complementary and competitive character we should examine the role of transportation for the development of relatively backward states.
Measures:
- Financial approach should be replaced by planning approach, as far a possible.
- Backward regions should be clearly recognised and their potentialities and capabilities should be properly assessed so that the separate strategy may be adopted for each type of backward region.
- Central assistance should be linked with specific programmes.
- Government should adopt a typological approach to impart greater area specificity to all programme ingredients.
- Initiating a transition growth process to identify a dynamic policy programme package and to bring about a proper sequencing of the development process.
- Develop regional consciousness and identify potential regions for the establishment of labour intensive industries and other economic activities.
- There is need to identify potential inputs and ancilliary units necessary for supplementing proposed key industry.
- Labour training skill development and other Human Resource Development activities should go together.
- The approach to backward area development must be characterised by :
- Selectivity;
- Specificity; and
- Dynamism and flexibility
- There should be a serious attempt to internalize the development process.
- There should be ‘National Ministry of Regional development’ to coordinate and support regional development mechanism.
- A deliberate ‘bottom-up strategies’ in a multi-level planning framework should be adopted.
Let us understand the nature and importance of railways and roadway in the Indian transport system:
Railways
- Railways constitute the backbone of surface transport system in India, catering to the needs for large scale movement of traffic, both freight and passenger.
- It brings together people from the farthest corners of the country and makes possible the conduct of business, sight-seeing, pilgrimage and education.
- India had 62,809 km. of rail lines in 1998-99 providing the largest railway system in Asia and second largest in the world.
- Railway has played a vital role in the economic and social development of the country and has been a great integrating force during the last hundred years.
Roadways
- Roads play a very important role in the transportation of goods and passengers for short and medium distances.
- It is comparatively easy and cheap to construct and maintain roads.
- Road transport system establishes easy contact between farms, fields, factories and market and provides door to door service.
- Roads can negotiate high gradients and sharp turns which railways can not do. As such roads can be constructed in hilly areas also.
- The road transport system is more flexible than the railway
- Perishable items like vegetables, fruits, milk etc. are transported more easily and quickly by roads than by railways.
Complementarity And Competition Between Railways And Roadways: In general, for short distances passengers prefer roadways to railways. The buses have flexible schedules and also flexible routes in that they can reach even large village. In the CAUVERY DELTA, where there are a number of branch lines, the railway has lost much of its passenger traffic to the buses, as roads run parallel to the railway lines. On the other hand, freight traffic such as food grains and salt prefer the railways.
In the case of freight traffic, lorries are preferred for sending small parcels over short distance, long distance lorrie traffic has picked up after the issue of national permit.
For distances up to 250 km., passenger prefer to travel by roads. Up to this distance, there is severe competition between railways and roadways especially when they are parallel to one another. Here again regular commuters prefer railways owing to consessional fare on season tickets.
As far as long distance traffic is concerned, railways are complementary to roads. When the journey involves travel during night, railways are preferred as they have sleeper coaches which are more comfortable than buses. For journeys between metropolitan cities, like Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Mumbai etc. railways cater to the entire passenger traffic.
As regards long distance freight traffic, railways are playing a complementary role to roadways. Bulky materials, like coal, Iron ore, Iron & Steel, Oil, etc. are easily handled by railways, while the railways move these materials over long distances, lorries are used for short distances, to the railway station and from the railway station to the addresses. Thus roadways and railways are assisting each other. Passengers also use road transport to reach the station and from the station at the other end to their residence.
Peninsular India: In peninsular India and in the Himalayan region railway lines are either absent or far away from the villages. Road transport is the only means of accessibility. For example in J & K, rail transport extends up to Jammu and beyond that, roads supplement railways. In Himachal Pradesh, Shimla is connected by rail and beyond that only road transport is available.
Brahmaputra Valley And West Bengal: In the Brahmaputra valley and West Bengal, water ways are effectively competing with roads for movement of freight.
Backwaters of Kerala: In the backwaters of Kerala roads and canals are parallel to one another. Here canal compete with roads. But for transport into interior areas of Kerala, roads are the only means of access. Similarly for transport of passengers and freight outside Kerala roads and waterways play a complementary role for railways.
Nilgiri: In the case of hill areas like the Nilgiris, the railway line to Ootackmundalam is unable to stand the competition from road traffic-Roads penetrate the hilly region and connect different settlements and state. The railway line on the other hand follows a particular route and transhipment is necessary to reach other settlements from the railway station. The narrow gauge railway line is slower and the journey takes a longer time.
Bihar-west Bengal Mineral Belt: In the mineral zone of West Bengal-Bihar, roads and railways are complementary to one another. The minerals like coals, metallic ores etc, are transported from the pit head to the railway station by road and from the railway station it moves to different parts of India. Railways have capacity to carry several wagons at one time unlike lorries by roads. Hence railways are dominant in this region.
The Fiscal Aspect: The competition and comlementarity between different modes of transport can be manipulated by adjusting passenger fare and freight rates. In areas where there is competition between road and rail for short distance traffic, if railway fares are increased such traffic will get diverted to roads and railways can concentrate on long distance traffic. Thus fiscal measures can be resorted to for reducing competition between railways & roadways.
Q7. Explain the role of railways as a unifying factor in the India economy. (1998)
Answer :
Transport system helps the circulation of men and material and broaden the market for goods and by doing so it makes possible large scale production through division of labour. Indian railways in this respect is the main artery of nation’s inland transport.
Indian railways is the largest railway system in Asia and second largest in the world. Its role as a unifying factor in the Indian economy can be explained under following points.
- Railway has an extensive network cris-crossing the whole country which is spread over 63140 Route Kilometer (R Km.), Comprising broad gauge (45099 R Km), metre gauge (14776 R Km) and narrow gauge (3365 R Km). Following figure shows the development of railway network in almost every part of the country.
- Such an extensive network brings togetherpeople from the farthest corners of the country and makes possible the conduct of business, sight seeing, pilgrimage and education.
- For long haul freight movement in the bulk and long distance passenger traffic, and for mass rapid transportation in sub-urban areas, railways occupy a unique position in the Indian economy. Growth in freight and passenger transport and progress of Indian railways is amply indicated by the following table.
| Particulars | 1950-51 | 2001-02 |
| 1.Route length (Km) | 53600 | 63140 |
| of which electrified (Km) | 390 | 14860 |
| 3.Passenger Originating (Million) | 1290 | 5000 |
| 4.Goods Originating (Million tonnes) | 93 | 489 |
| 5.No. of Coaches | 19630 | 44000 |
| 6.No. of Wagons (ooo) | 206 | 217 |
| Since 1950-51, Freight transport has increased by 5.5 times and the passenger movement by 3.5 times. |
- The construction and expansion of railways has played an important integrating role in the economic and social development of the country. It has proved beneficial for the development of cotton textile industry in Mumbai, coal and iron and steel industry in Jharkhand-West Bengal region, jute industry near Kolkata, tea plantations in Assam and West Bengal, Cement, Petrochemical, Engineering and various other industries in various parts of India.
- Railways has proved beneficial for the development of industries because it handles most of the bulk cargo which includes both raw materials and finished goods of these industries. The goods traffic handled by the railways consist of almost 100% of iron and steel, 98% of mineral oils, mangnese ore and building stones, 90% of coal, cement and metal ores, 70% of raw cotton, 65% of cotton textiles, 50% fertilizers and 35% of foodgrains.
- The total revenue earning freight traffic of railway has increased from 73.2 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 492.5 million tonnes in 2001-02. Following table shows the importance of railway in Indian transport system (thereby in Indian economy over the years).
- The table below shows that foodgrains and other agricultural output has also been handled by railways. Farmers can send their agricultural goods to distant places.
1950-51 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | |
| 1.Total Fright traffic (Million tonnes) | 93.0 | 504.2 | 521.2 |
| 2.Total revenue earning freight traffic (Million tonnes) (i) Coal (ii) Cement (iii) Foodgrains (iv) Mineral oil | 73.2 20.20 2.5 7.8 2.7 | 473.5 223.68 42.88 26.68 36.25 | 492.3 229.79 44.00 32.81 35.62 |
| 3.Goods carried (Million tonnes-Km.) | 44.1 | 315.5 | 336.4 |
| 4.Passengers Originating (Million) | 1284.0 | 4833.0 | 5093.0 |
| 5.Passenger Kilometers (Million) | 66.5 | 457.0 | 493.0 |
| SOURCE:ECONOMIC SURVEY, 2002-03 |
- Indian railways has also been facilitating the development of tourism industry as vindicated by many schemes and special trains such as Palace on Wheels, Himalayan Queen, etc.
Q8. Geographical impediments in the development of inland waterways in India (1997)
Answer :
Inland waterway refers to using inland water bodies like rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc. for transporting goods or people. This was an important mode of transportation in pre-colonial period but its importance declined after the advent of railways and development of roadways. Currently the share of inland waterways to total transport in India is only around 1%. India is a land of many long and perennial rivers. But water transport is not very popular in the country. Following are the geographical factors which act as impediments in the development of inland waterways:
- For efficient inland waterways, the rivers and canals should have regular flow of sufficient water. But there is seasonal fall in water level in rivers especially in the rainfed rivers of the peninsula which become nearly dry during summer.
- Presence of water falls, craters and sharp bends in the course of rivers hinder the development of waterways. Many Indian rivers present problems in smooth navigation in the considerable portion of their stretch due to waterfalls and craters, as in Narmada and Tapi.
- There is reduced navigability due to siltation, as in the case of Bhagirathi-Hooghly and in the Buckingham Canal.
- Reduced flow due to diversion of water for irrigation for example in the Ganga, makes it difficult for steamers to ply.
- Salinity, especially in the coastal stretch affects navigation.
- Shifting river courses and devastating floods especially in the North Indian plains makes it difficult to construct permanent jetty or wharf, thereby impeding the development of inland waterways.
- Formation of delta and distributaries in the lower courses of rivers make the mouth narrower for the entry of ships and big boats.
- Seasonal concentration of rainfall and fluctuating river regime also hinders the development of inland waterways.
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