GEOGRAPHY (X) LESSON-7 LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMY (LESSON NOTES)

                                           

GEOGRAPHY (X) LESSON-7

LIFELINES OF NATIONAL ECONOMY

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION: -

Ø From the ancient time people move from one place to other place and also carry different things.

Ø In the present time also the development of a country not only depends on the production of goods and services but also on their movement over space. Therefore, efficient means of transport are prerequisites for fast development of a nation.

Ø In this chapter, you will see how modern means of transport and communication serve as lifelines of our nation and its modern economy.

v CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSPORTATION: -

Ø 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.

 

v Means of transport and communication—lifelines of our national economy:

They help in—

·        increasing cooperation and assistance between countries;

·        easy movement of goods and material between countries;

·        trade and commerce within the country;

·        reducing distances thus bringing the world closer;

·        both production and distribution of goods; and

·        movement of large number of people and over long distances.

v ROADWAYS:

Ø India has one of the largest road networks in the world, aggregating to about 56 lakh km.

Ø IMPORTANCE OF ROAD TRANSPORT VIS-A-VIS RAIL TRANSPORT

§  Construction cost of roads is much lower than that of railway lines.

§  Roads can be built more easily in undulating topography such as mountains, deserts, forested areas etc. compare to railway tracks.

§  Road transport is economical in transportation of few persons and relatively smaller amount of goods over short distances.

§  It also provides door-to-door service; thus, the cost of loading and unloading is much lower.

§  Road transport is also used as a feeder to other modes of transport.

v CLASSIFICATION OF ROADS

v TYPES OF ROADS ACCORDING TO THEIR CAPACITY:

Ø Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways:

§  It’s a major road development project linking Delhi- Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai and Delhi by six-lane Super Highways o reduce the time and distance between the mega cities of India.

§  The North-South corridors linking Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu).

§  The East-West Corridor connecting Silcher (Assam) and Porbander (Gujarat) are part of this project.

Ø National Highways:

§  National Highways link all Major cities of extreme parts of the country.

§  These are the primary road systems and are maintained by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

§  The National Highway 7 between Varanasi and Kanyakumari is the longest highway of India.

Ø State Highways: 

§  Roads linking a state capital with different district headquarters.

§  These roads are constructed and maintained by State Public Works Department in State and Union Territories.

Ø District Roads: 

§  These roads connect the district headquarters with other places of the district. These roads are maintained by the Zila Parishad.

Ø Rural Roads: 

§  Rural roads, which link rural areas and villages with towns, are classified under this category.

§  Under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana scheme special provisions are made so that every village in the country is linked to a major town in the country by an all season motorable road.

Ø Border Roads: 

§  Border Roads Organisation constructs and maintains roads in the bordering areas of the country. This organisation was established in 1960.

§  These roads are of strategic importance in the northern and north eastern border areas.

§  These roads have improved accessibility in areas of difficult terrain and have helped in the economic development of these area.

§  Recently, BRO constructed world highest road in Ladakh.

v TYPES OF ROADS ACCORDING TO MATERIALS

METALLED ROAD (PUCCA ROAD)	UNMETALLED ROAD  (KUCCH ROAD)
1.  The road which are made of cement, concrete or even bitumen of coal.	The road which are made up of only sand and clay.
2.  They are used in all seasons.	They cannot be used in rainy season.
3.      They are important for the economy.	They are mostly in the rural areas.

v RAILWAYS

Ø The Indian Railways is the largest public sector undertaking in the country.

Ø The first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane in 1853, covering a distance of 34 km.  Now the Indian Railway network runs on multiple gauge operations extending over 68,442 km.

Ø The Indian Railway is now reorganised into 17 zones.

v IMPORTANCE OF RAILWAYS IN INDIA:

Ø They are the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers in India.

Ø Railways also make it possible to conduct different activities like business, sightseeing, and pilgrimage along with transportation of goods over longer distances.

Ø Indian Railways plays a role of national integration. Railways in India bind the economic life of the country as well as accelerate the development of the industry and agriculture.

v FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THE DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF RAILWAY NETWORK IN INDIA:

Ø The distribution pattern of the Railway network in the country has been largely influenced by physiographic, economic and administrative factors.

Ø The density railway network is high in the northern plains because: -

§  They are vast level land.

§  This area has high population density.

§  It is full of rich agricultural resources.

Ø In the hilly terrains of the peninsular region, railway tracts are laid through low hills, gaps or tunnels therefore it difficult to construct railway lines.

Ø The Himalayan mountainous regions too are unfavourable for the construction of railway lines due to high relief, sparse population and lack of economic opportunities.

Ø It was difficult to lay railway lines on the sandy plain of western Rajasthan, swamps of Gujarat, forested tracks of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

Ø In recent times, western ghat (Sahyadri) is crossed through the pass by Konkan railway. But it has also faced a number of problems such as sinking of track in some stretches and landslides

v PROBLEMS FACED BY INDIAN RAILWAYS:

Ø Rail transport suffers from certain problems such as: -

§  Many passengers travel without tickets.

§  Thefts and damaging of railway property has not yet stopped completely.

§  People pull the chain unnecessarily and this causes heavy damage to the railway.

§  Many overbridge are old so need to be rebuilt.

v IMPORTANCE OF PIPELINES IN INDIA:

Ø In the past, pipelines were used to transport water to cities and industries.

Ø Now, these are used for transporting crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas from oil and natural gas fields to refineries, fertilizer factories and big thermal power plants.

Ø Solids can also be transported through a pipeline when converted into slurry.

Ø Many refiners such as Barauni, Mathura, Panipat etc located in the interiors of India only because of pipelines.

Ø Pipelines rules out trans-shipment (during transportation) losses or delays.

v THREE IMPORTANT NETWORKS OF PIPELINE IN INDIA

Ø From oil field in upper Assam to Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) via Guwahati, Barauni and Allahabad.

Ø From Salaya in Gujarat to Jalandhar in Punjab through Viramgam, Mathura, Delhi and Sonipat.

Ø Gas pipeline from Hazira in Gujarat connects Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh via Vijaipur in Madhya Pradesh.

v IMPORTANCE OF WATER TRANSPORT:

Ø From the ancient time Waterways were used to carrying and spreading Indian commerce and culture.

Ø It is the cheapest means of transport.

Ø They are most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.

Ø It is a fuel-efficient and environment friendly mode.

v CLASSIFICATION OF WATERWAYS: -

v INLAND WATERWAYS: -

Ø India has inland navigation waterways of 14,500 km in length. Recently Indian Government declared 111 national waterways.Some of these are as:-

§  N.W. No-1: -The Ganga River between Allahabad and Haldia (1620 km).

§  N.W. No.2: -The Brahmaputra River between Sadiya and Dhubri (891 km).

§  N.W. No.3:-The West-Coast Canal in Kerala (Kottapurma-Komman, Udyogamandal and Champakkara canals-205 km).

§  N.W. No-4: - Some stretches of Godavari and Krishna rivers along with Kakinada Puducherry stretch of canals (1078 km).

§  N.W. No.5: - Specified stretches of river Brahmani along with Matai river, delta channels of Mahanadi and Brahmani rivers and East Coast Canal (588 km).

v OVERSEAS ROUTE: -

Ø India has a long coastline of 7,516.6 km. It is dotted with 13 major and 200 notified non-majors (minor/intermediate) ports. These major ports handle 95 per cent of India’s foreign trade

§  Kandla: It was the first port developed soon after Independence. It was developed to ease the volume of trade on the Mumbai port. Kandla is a tidal port.

§  Mumbai: It is the biggest port with a spacious natural and well-sheltered harbour.

§  The Jawaharlal Nehru port: It was planned with a view to decongest the Mumbai port and serve as a hub port for this region.

§  Marmagoa port (Goa): It is the premier iron ore exporting port of the country. This port accounts for about fifty per cent of India’s iron ore export.

§  New Mangalore port: It export iron ore from Kudremukh mines.

§  Kochi: It is the located at the entrance of a lagoon with a natural harbour.

§  Tuticorin, in Tamil Nadu: This port has a natural harbour. It trades a large variety of cargoes to our neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, etc.

§  Chennai: It is one of the oldest artificial ports of the country. It is ranked next to Mumbai in terms of the volume of trade and cargo.

§  Vishakhapatnam: It is the deepest landlocked and well-protected port. This port was developed as a port for iron ore exports.

§  Paradip port: It is located in Odisha. It specialises in the export of iron ore.

§  Kolkata: It is an inland riverine port. This port serves a very large and rich hinterland of Ganga- Brahmaputra basin. Being a tidal port, it requires constant dredging of Hoogly River.

§  Haldia port: It was developed as a subsidiary port, in order to relieve growing pressure on the Kolkata port.

§  Port Blaire:- It is recently developed by Indian Government.

v IMPORTANCE OF AIRWAYS:

Ø The air travel, today, is the fastest, most comfortable and prestigious mode of transport.

Ø It can cover very difficult terrains like high mountains, dreary deserts, dense forests and also long oceanic stretches with great ease.

Ø Air travel has made access easier in the north-eastern part of the country which has big rivers, dissected relief, dense forests and frequent floods and international frontiers.

v AIR TRANSPORT IN INDIA

Ø The air transport was nationalised in 1953. Air India provides domestic and international air services. Recently Air India was purchased by Tata.

Ø Pawanhans Helicopters Ltd. provides helicopter services to ONGC in its off-shore operations, to inaccessible areas and difficult terrains like the north-eastern states and the interior parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Ø India government launched UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme to connect more cities for air transport.

v IMPORTANT AIR PORTS: -

SR NO	NAME OF AIRPORT	CITY
1	Raja Sansi Air port	Amritsar
2	Indira Gandhi International Air Port	Delhi
3	Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal	Santacruz (Mumbai)
4	Netaji Subhash Chandra Int Air port	Dumdum (Kolkata)
5	Meenambakkam	Chennai
6	Rajeev Gandhi Air Port	Hydrabad
7.	Thiruvanantpuram air port	Thiruvanantpurram

 

v COMMUNICATION:

Ø Conveying the message to other persons over the long distance is known as communication. These can be classified on two different basis as:-

Ø According to communicate

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION	MASS COMMUNICATION
When the message is conveyed only people to people.	When a message is delivered to mass number of people.
It included letter, email, telephone etc.	It included Tv, radio, press, films etc.

Ø According to device:

Print Media	Electronic Media
When a message is delivered to the people through print materials.	When the message is conveyed through electronic devices.
It includes books, newspapers, magazine etc.	It includes computer, mobile, internet etc.

v TYPES OF MAIL OF INDIAN POSTAL

Ø The Indian postal network is the largest in the world. It handles parcels as well as personal written communications. There are different types of mail as: -

§  First class mail: Cards and envelopes are airlifted between stations covering both land and air.

§  Second class mail: It includes book packets, registered newspapers and periodicals. They are carried by surface mail, covering land and water transport.

§  To facilitate quick delivery of mails in large towns and cities, six mail channels have been introduced recently. They are called Rajdhani Channel, Metro Channel, Green Channel, Business Channel, Bulk Mail Channel and Periodical Channel.

v IMPORANCE OF MASS COMMUNICATION:

Ø Mass communication provides entertainment. They create awareness among people about various national programmes and policies.

Ø All India Radio (Akashwani) broadcasts a variety of programmes in national, regional and local languages for various categories of people, spread over different parts of the country.

Ø They strengthen democracy in the country by providing news and information to the masses.

Ø It helps in agriculture sector by helping farmers by providing them information about new agricultural practices.

Ø Doordarshan is the national television channel of India. It is one of the largest terrestrial networks in the world.

Ø The largest numbers of newspapers published in the country are in Hindi, followed by English and Urdu. India is the largest producer of feature films in the world.

v TRADE:

Ø Exchange of goods and services among people, states and countries is referred as trade. It can be divided into two types as

§  Domestic trade: - When the exchange of goods and service within a country is known as domestic trade.

§  International Trade: - Exchange of goods between the countries is known as international trade. There are two components of international trade as Import and Export.

·      India’s import: - The commodities imported to India include petroleum crude and products, gems and jewellery, chemicals and related products, base metals, electronic items, machinery, agriculture and allied products.

·      India’s export:- The commodities exported from India to other countries include gems and jewellery, chemicals and related products, agriculture and allied products, etc

v IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Ø It considered as economic barometer because advancement of international trade of a country leads to economic prosperity.

Ø Income earned from international trade constitutes a major part in the net national income.

Ø Large international trade leads to revival of domestic economy.

v BALANCE OF TRADE:

Ø The difference between export and import is known as balance of trade.

Ø If the value of exports is more than the value of imports, it is called favourable balance of trade.

Ø And if the value of imports is greater than the value of exports it is known as unfavourable balance of trade.

Ø Favourable balance of trade is regarded good for the economic development whereas unfavourable balance of trade is seen harmful for the domestic economy.

v Tourism as a Trade

Ø Tourism in India has grown substantially over the last three decades.

Ø More than 15 million people are directly engaged in the tourism industry. It provide the vast foreign exchange.

Ø Tourism also promotes national integration, provides support to local handicrafts and cultural pursuits.

Ø It also helps in the development of international understanding about our culture and heritage.

Ø Foreign tourists visit India for heritage tourism, eco-tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, medical tourism.