Class 12 Geography Chapter 15 Notes in English: Transport and Communication

1Transport and Communication: Meaning and Modes

Everything we use daily, from toothpaste to food grains, is produced somewhere else and has to reach us. Transport is what moves these goods from the place of production to the market where consumers buy them. We also exchange ideas, views and messages every day; moving these is communication. Both depend on the same basic need: moving something (goods, people or ideas) from the place it is available to the place it is needed.

Ropeways, cableways and pipelines were also devised for transporting specific goods under special circumstances, such as over hilly terrain or for liquids and gases.

2Land Transport: Roads

2.1 Growth of roads in India

Pathways and unmetalled roads have carried India’s transport since ancient times; metalled roads and railways came later, with economic and technological development. Modern road transport stayed limited before World War II: the Nagpur Plan (1943) could not be implemented because the princely states and British India failed to coordinate. After Independence, a twenty-year road plan (1961) improved road conditions, but roads still concentrate around urban centres, leaving rural and remote areas the least connected.

2.2 Classification of roads

For construction and maintenance, roads are classified as National Highways, State Highways, District Roads, Rural Roads, and Other Roads (Border Roads and International Highways).

Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Annual Report 2020-21 (Table 7.1)

National Highways (NH)

NH length grew from 19,700 km in 1951 to 1,36,440 km in 2020. National Highways form only about 2% of India’s total road length, but carry 40% of all road traffic.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was operationalised in 1995. It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Surface Transport, responsible for developing, maintaining and operating National Highways, and is the apex body for improving their quality.

State Highways, District Roads and Rural Roads

About 80% of India’s total road length is rural roads. Their density varies regionally because it is influenced by the nature of the terrain.

Other Roads: Border Roads and International Highways

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was established in May 1960 to accelerate economic development and strengthen defence preparedness through rapid, coordinated road-building along India’s northern and north-eastern boundary. It is a premier multifaceted construction agency: it built the road joining Chandigarh with Manali (Himachal Pradesh) and Leh (Ladakh), running at an average altitude of 4,270 metres above mean sea level, and it also undertakes snow clearance in high-altitude areas.

International Highways promote harmonious relations with neighbouring countries by providing effective links with India, such as the Delhi-Lahore bus route via the Wagah Border and the Aman Setu between Baramula and Muzaffarabad.

3Land Transport: Railways

The Indian Railways network is one of the longest in the world. It moves both freight and passengers, and contributes directly to economic growth. Mahatma Gandhi said the railways “brought people of diverse cultures together to contribute to India’s freedom struggle.”

Indian Railways is the country’s largest government undertaking. Because its size is so large, it is divided into 17 zones to reduce the pressure of centralised management.

Steam engines have been replaced by diesel and electric engines, raising both speed and haulage capacity, and improving the environment around stations. Metro rail has revolutionised urban transport in India; replacing diesel buses with CNG vehicles, alongside metro, is a step towards controlling urban air pollution.

3.1 The three gauges

Lengths as of 2019-20. Narrow gauge is generally confined to hilly areas. Indian Railways has an extensive programme to convert metre and narrow gauge lines to broad gauge.

Towns near raw-material and plantation areas, hill stations and cantonments were well connected by rail from the British colonial era, mainly to exploit resources. After Independence, railway routes were extended to other areas too: the most significant was the Konkan Railway along the western coast, directly linking Mumbai and Mangaluru. Even so, the railway network remains relatively less dense in the hill states, north-eastern states, central India and Rajasthan.

4Water Transport

Water transport is the cheapest mode of transport, most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky material, and it is fuel-efficient and eco-friendly. It is of two types: inland waterways and oceanic routes.

4.1 Inland waterways

Inland waterways were the chief mode of transport before railways arrived, but then faced tough competition from road and rail. Diverting river water for irrigation has also made large stretches non-navigable. India has 14,500 km of navigable waterways today, contributing about 1% of the country’s transportation, and comprising rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks.

The Inland Waterways Authority was set up in 1986 for the development, maintenance and regulation of national waterways. Under the National Waterways Act, 2016, 111 inland waterways (including 5 declared earlier) were declared National Waterways.

Source: Annual Report, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, 2022-23 (Table 7.3). The Inland Waterways Authority has identified 10 further inland waterways that could be upgraded.

4.2 Oceanic routes

India has a vast coastline of about 7,517 km, including islands, served by 12 major and 200 minor ports. Oceanic routes carry about 95% of India’s foreign trade by volume and 70% by value. Besides international trade, they are also used to transport goods between the islands and the rest of the country.

5Air Transport

Air transport is the fastest means of movement, reducing distance by minimising travel time. It is essential for a vast country like India, where distances are large and terrain and climate are diverse.

Air transport in India began in 1911, when airmail operations started over a short distance of 10 km between Prayagraj and Naini. Its real development came after Independence. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) is responsible for providing safe, efficient air traffic and aeronautical communication services in Indian airspace.

Pawan Hans is a helicopter service widely used by tourists in the hilly, north-eastern parts of the country; it also serves the petroleum sector and tourism more generally.

6Oil and Gas Pipelines

Pipelines are the most convenient and efficient way to move liquids and gases over long distances. Even solids can be transported by pipeline once converted to slurry.

This HVJ artery gave impetus to the Indian gas market. Overall, India’s gas pipeline infrastructure has expanded more than ten times, from 1,700 km to 18,500 km, and is expected to soon reach over 34,000 km as a Gas Grid linking all gas sources and consuming markets across the country, including the North Eastern states.

7Communication Networks

Humans have used many methods of communication over time: beating drums or hollow tree trunks, smoke or fire signals, and fast runners, horses, camels, dogs and birds to carry messages. Early on, the means of communication were often also the means of transportation. The invention of the post office, telegraph, printing press, telephone and satellite, driven by advances in science and technology, made communication much faster and easier.

Based on scale and quality, modes of communication fall into two categories: the Personal Communication System, one-to-one contact such as the internet and e-mail, and the Mass Communication System, which reaches large audiences at once through radio, television and satellites.

7.1 Personal communication: the internet

Among personal communication systems, the internet is the most effective and advanced, widely used in urban areas. It gives users direct contact through e-mail, access to the world’s knowledge, and is used for e-commerce and money transactions: a huge central warehouse of data, giving efficient, low-cost access to information.

7.2 Mass communication: Radio

All India Radio broadcasts programmes on information, education and entertainment, along with special news bulletins on occasions like sessions of Parliament and the state legislatures.

7.3 Mass communication: Television

7.4 Satellite communication

Satellites are a mode of communication in themselves, and they also regulate the use of other means of communication. A continuous, synoptic (whole-area) view from satellites makes satellite communication very important for economic and strategic reasons, and is used for weather forecasting, monitoring natural calamities, and surveillance of border areas.

The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), at Hyderabad, provides facilities for acquiring and processing this data, which is very useful in managing natural resources.