Q. 12. Why does the rail transport continues to remain the cheap mode of transport for the masses in India?
Ans. (i) Indian Railways network is one of the longest in the world.
(ii) It facilitates the movement of goods and passengers.
(iii) It contributes to the growth of economy.
(iv) It brings people of diverse cultures together.
(v) Cheap means of transport.
(vi) It links north with south and west with east.
Detailed Answer:
(i) Indian Railways network is one of the longest in the world: The world’s longest station platform is at Gorakhpur Junction in India at 1,355.40 metres.
(ii) It facilitates the movement of goods and passengers: The greatest advantage of the railway transport in India is that it is the most dependable mode of transport as it is least affected by weather conditions such as rains, fog, etc., as compared to other means of transport.
(iii) Contributes to the growth of economy: It contributes to the economy by providing greater employment opportunities for both skilled as well as unskilled labour. Indian Railway employees more than 1.4 million people.
(iv) It brings people of diverse cultures together: Railways is the largest public undertaking in the country. Railways perform many public utility services, which helps in bringing people of diverse cultures together.
(v) Cheap means of transport: It is a cheaper mode of transport as compared to other modes of transport. Most of the working expense of railways are in the nature of fixed costs. Railways is also economical in the use of labour also as one driver and one guard are sufficient to carry much more load than the motor transport.
(vi) Links North with South and West with East: Being a public transport, its movement is not restricted only to a certain domain. Hence, it links North with South and West with East.
Q. 13. Describe the role of roads in the economic development of India.
Ans. Effective road transportation provides economic benefits that result in multiplier effects such as better accessibility to markets, employment and additional investment. If the modes of transportation are not fully developed it leads the country to miss out on lot of economic opportunities.
The developmental role that transport plays in an economy makes it derived demands as the sector in itself is not productive but is responsive to forces generated in production and consumption sectors.
(i) Road transport and agriculture: India being an agrarian country is highly dependent on a reliable road transport system for internal transportation and for linking rural communities to the market centres to sell their farm products and buy industrial goods. The access created to the market due to good road transportation have the impact of increasing productivity and production as farmers will no longer have to go through the plight of restricting themselves to subsistence farming to prevent food wastage.
(ii) Road transport and industries: Generally, the industries take into consideration two things before establishing themselves; first is the low transportation cost and second is the satisfactory transportation services.
Availability of an effective road transportation system is also important for industries as it helps to facilitate the production by increasing accessibility and mobility.
When low transportation cost and satisfactory road transport services are available in regions, then there is high attractiveness to investors because they are assured of lower distribution cost and improved access for both employees and customers.
Thus, good road transport system yields growth in a number of industries and expansion of already existing ones. Industrial growth implies more jobs.
As a result employment and income will increase as the industries grow due to good transportation system.
(iii) Road transportation and education: Distance is one of the major challenges of education in most developing countries like India. In the absence of good paved road system, lot of young children are unable to even attend school. On the other hand where a paved road exists, the school participation rate increases to a high percentage. Access to education can be made possible by the provision of good road transport infrastructure. In certain areas where communities don’t attain certain educational facilities because of threshold reasons, an effective and mobility ease for inhabitants of these small communities to bigger ones to have access to schools.
Better education means better employment opportunities which yields to growth of economy.
Q. 14. Which are the chief means of transportation in India? Discuss the factors affecting their development.
Ans. Transportation in India consists of transport by land, water and air. Public transport remains the primary mode of transport for most Indian citizens.
(i) Land transport: The pathways and metalled roads have been used for transportation in India since ancient times. With the economic and technological development, metalled roads and railways were developed to move large volume of goods and people from one place to another.
(ii) Road transport: India has one of the largest road transports in the world with the total length of 54.8 lakh km (2016-17) the distribution of roads is not uniform in the country. Density of roads varies from only 12.14 km in J&K to 517.77 km in Kerala with a national average of 142.68 km in 2011 Road transport is relatively reliable and suitable for shorter distance travel.
The road transport in India can be divided into:
(a) National Highways: The main roads which are constructed and maintained by the Central Government. These roads are meant for interstate transport and movement of defence men and meterial in strategic areas. These also connect the state capitals, major cities, important parts, railway junctions, etc.
(b) State Highways: These are constructed and maintained by state governments. They join the state capitals with district headquarters and other important towns.
(c) District roads: These roads are vital for providing links in the rural areas. About 80% of the total road length in India are categorised as rural roads.
(iii) Rail transport: Indian Railways network is one of the longest in the world. It facilitates the movement of both freight and passengers and contributes to the growth of economy. Indian Railways is the largest government undertaking in the country. The length of Indian Railways network is 66,030 km as on 31st March, 2015. Its very large size puts lots of pressure on centralised railway management system. Over the few decades, the steam engines have been replaced by coal that has improved the environment of the stations.
Metro rail has revolutionised the urban transport system in metro cities. Areas around towns, raw material producing areas and of plantations and other commercial towns were well-connected by railways from the British colonial era. After independence, railway routes have been extended to other areas too.
Railways continues to remain the main means of transport for the masses.
(iv) Water transport: Waterways is an important mode of transport for both passenger and cargo traffic in India. It is the cheapest means of bulky material. It is fuel efficient and eco-friendly mode of transport.
The water transport used in India are of two types:
(a) Inland waterways: It was the chief mode of transport before the advent of railways. It however, faced tough competition from road and railway transport.
(b) Oceanic waterways: India has a vast coastline of approximate 7,517 km, including islands. 12 major and 185 minor ports provide infrastructural support to these routes. Oceanic routes play an important role in transport sector of India’s economy.
(v) Air Transport: Air transport is the fastest means of transport from one place to another. It has reduced distances by minimising the travel time. It is very essential for a vast country like India, where distances are large and the terrain and climatic conditions are diverse.
The air transport in India was managed by two corporations; Air India and Indian Airlines. Now Indian Airlines and Air India have been merged and a new company National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL) has been incorporated with its headquarters at Mumbai. Now many private companies have also started passenger services.
(vi) Oil and gas pipelines: Pipelines are the most convenient and efficient mode of transporting liquids and gases over long distance. Oil India Limited (OIL) under the administrative set up of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is engaged in the exploration, production and transportation of crude oil and natural gas.
Q. 15. Describe any five characteristics of National Highways of India.
Ans. Characteristics of National Highways of India:
(i) Constructed and maintained by the Central Government.
(ii) Meant for inter-state transport.
(iii) Meant for movement of defence men and material in strategic areas.
(iv) They connect the cities in different parts (state capitals, major cities, important ports, railway junctions) of India.
(v) They constitute 1.7% of total road length and 40% of the road traffic in India.
(vi) NHAI is entrusted with the responsibility of development, maintenance and operation of NH.
(vii) Any other relevant point.
Detailed Answer:
Characteristics of National Highways of India:
(i) In India, National Highways are at-grade roads whereas Express Highways, commonly known as Expressways, are controlled-access highways, mostly six-lane or above, where entrance and exit is controlled by the use of slip roads (ramps) that are incorporated into the design of the highway. The at-grade National Highways do not have shoulder lanes.
(ii) They are constructed and maintained by the Central Government. National Highways are meant for inter-state transport. They are meant for movement of defence men and material in strategic areas. They connect the cities in different parts (state capitals, major cities, important ports, railway junctions) of India.
(iii) While National Highways constitute 1.8% of Indian roads, they carry 40% of the traffic. The majority of existing National Highways are two-lane roads (one lane in each direction), though much of this is being expanded to four-lanes and some to six or more lanes. Some sections of the network are toll roads.
(iv) The National Highways network of India is a network of trunk roads that is owned by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. It is constructed and managed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and Public Works Department (PWD) of the state governments. NHAI was established by National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988.
Section 16(1) of the Act states that the function of NHAI is to develop, maintain and manage the national highways and any other highways vested in, or entrusted to, it by the Government of India.
(v) The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is the nodal agency responsible for building, upgrading and maintaining most of the national highways network. It operates under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) is a major effort to expand and upgrade the network of highways. NHAI often uses a public-private partnership model for highway development, maintenance and toll-collection.
Q. 16. H ow are the principal modes of transportation complementary to one another? Explain with examples.
Ans. Principal modes of transport are land, water and air. They are all complementary to one another:
(i) All modes of transport are used for inter-regional and intra- regional movement of goods and passengers.
(ii) In ternational movement of goods is mainly handled by ocean, freighters and is carried forward to the market/ place of destination by roadways or railways.
(iii) Light weight delicate goods are transported through airways which takes lesser time as compared to the other modes of transport. Then roadways provides the door-to-door facility to deliver the product to its destination.
(iv) W aterways carry heavy bulky goods to their destinations only with the help of the land transport.
(v) Mainly land transport acts as a feeder to the airways and the waterways. (Any five points to be explained)
Q. 17. ‘Indian railways brought people of diverse cultures together.’ Support this statement with suitable examples.
Ans. Indian Railways brought people of diverse cultures together:
(i) Indian Railway was introduced in 1853.
(ii) Indian Railways network is more than 64,000 kms.
(iii) It connects people of different regions through its sixteen zones.
(iv) Mahatma Gandhi said “Indian Railways brought people of diverse cultures together to contribute to India’s freedom struggle “.
(v) P eople from different languages with different customs and food habits could connect with each other using Indian Railways.
Q. 18. Examine the role of Inland Waterways Authority of India. Explain why inland water transport is an important mode of transport.
Ans. Inland Waterways Authority of India:
(i) The Inland Waterways Authority of India was set up in 1986.
(ii) It was set up for the development, maintenance and regulation of National Waterways in the country.
(iii) The Authority has declared 3 inland waterways as National Waterways.
(iv) It has also identified 10 other inland waterways which can be upgraded.
(v) The famous Nehru Trophy Boat Race (Vallamkali) is held in back waters.
Importance of Inland Water Transport:
India has the network of Inland water extending upto 14,500 km in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks.
(i) It is suitable for carrying bulky goods.
(ii) It carries both cargo and passengers.
(iii) It is the cheapest mode of transport.
(iv) It is fuel-efficient.
(v) It is eco-friendly.
Detailed Answer:
(i) It is suitable for carrying bulky goods: It can carry much larger quantities of heavy and bulky goods such as coal and timber at little cost.
(ii) It carries both cargo and passengers: Water transport is capable of carrying both cargo as well as passenger load at any given point of time.
(iii) It is the cheapest mode of transport: Rivers are a natural highway which does not require cost of construction and maintenance. Even the cost of construction and maintenance of canals is much less or they are used not only for transport purposes but also for irrigation, etc. Morever, the cost operation of the inland water transport is very low.
(v) It is eco-friendly: It is eco-friendly as the amount of pollution created waterways is very less than that created by other means of transportation.
Q. 19. “Air transport plays an important role in the international trade.” Support the statement.
Ans. Air transport is of recent origin in the development of transport system of a country. It’s a gift of the 20th century to the world. The Second World War has stimulated the growth of air transport and it has made progress in the recent years because it is the fastest way of transporting of goods. The transport of goods through airways is costly and therefore it is designated to carry costly goods of small quantity.
Air transport does not give emphasis on construction of tracks like railways. As no capital investment in surface track is needed, it is a cheap mode of transport. Air transport is regarded as the only means of transport in those areas which are not easily accessible to other modes of transport. It is therefore accessible to all areas regardless the obstruction of land. Air transport is free from physical barriers because it follows the shortest and direct routes where seas, mountains and forests do not obstruct.
Air transport offers numerous advantages for international trade such as:
(i) Delivers items quickly over long distances.
(ii) Gives the high levels of security for sensitive items.
(iii) It is used for a range of goods.
Q. 20. Classify means of communication on the basis of scale and quality into two categories. Explain any two characteristics of each category.
Ans. Classification of means of communication on the basis of scale and quality:
(i) Personal
(ii) Mass Characteristics:
(i) Personal Communication System:
(a) It is the most effective and advanced one and widely used in urban areas.
(b) It enables the user to establish direct connect through e-mail to get access to world of knowledge and information.
(c) It is used for e-commerce and carrying out money transaction.
(d) It is a huge central warehouse of data, with detailed information on various items. (Letters, Telephone, Fax, E-mail, Internet, etc).
(e) Among all the personal communication system, internet is the most effective and advanced one. It is widely used in urban areas. It enables the user to establish direct contact through e-mail to get access to the world of knowledge and information.
(f) The internet is like a huge central warehouse of data, with detailed information on various items. The network through internet and e-mail provides an efficient access to information at a comparatively low cost.
(ii) Mass Communication System:
(a) Radio broadcasting started in India in 1923 by the Radio Club of Bombay and changed the socio – cultural life of people. All India Radio broadcasts a variety of programmes related to information, education and entertainment. Special news bulletins are also broadcast at specific occasions like session of Parliament and state legislatures.
(b) Television broadcasting emerged as the most effective audio-visual medium for information and educating masses.
(c) Use of satellite and synoptic view of larger area for economic and strategic reasons. (Radio, Television, Cinema, Satellite, Newspaper, Magazine and Books, Seminar and Conference, etc). On the basis of configuration and purposes, satellite system in India can be grouped into two: Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) and Indian Remote Sensing Satellite System (IRS). The INSAT, which was established in 1983, is a multipurpose satellite system for telecommunication, meteorological observation and for various other data and programme.
Q. 21. Explain the importance of ‘communication services’ in India.
Ans. Importance of communication services in India are:
(i) Communication induces transmission of words, messages, facts and ideas from one place to another.
(ii) All the communication are dependent on means of transport.
(iii) When the transport is efficient, the communication is also efficient.
(iv) It helps to spread the message from one place to another very quickly.
(v) The time has reduced to spread the message.
(vi) Global communication has revolutionised the country.
