Waterways In India


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Waterways In India

Waterways In India : Waterways are the cheapest means of transport. It is fuel-efficient, environment friendly and suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.

Inland Waterways : India has inland navigation waterways of about 14,500 km in length out of which 5,685 km are navigable by mechanised boats. The waterways declared as National Waterways are given in the table below

National WaterwaysDescription
NW-1Allahabad to Haldia (1,620 km) on the Ganga, Bhagirathi and Hugli river system
NW-2Sadiya to Dhubri (891 km) on the Brahmaputra river
NW-3West-Coast canal in Kerala (205 km) (Kottapuram-komman, Udyogamandal and Champakkara canals)
NW-4Parts of krishna and Godavari rivers along with Kakinada-Puducherry stretch of canals (1,078 km)
NW-5Partss of Brahamni river along with Matai river, detla channels of Mahanadi and Brahmani rivers and East coasts canal (588 km)

There are some other inland waterways on which transportation to an extent takes place. They are Mandavi Zuari and Cumberjua, Sunderbans, Barak, backwaters of Kerala and tidal stretches of some more rivers.

Difference between Major & Minor Ports :- 

  • Minor Ports : Ports having facilities for the discharge of cargo from coasters only. On the other hand those Ports which are used for the coastal transportation are known as minor ports . These are managed by the respective state governments . They have the Capacity of baout one hundred tonnes . Their working capacity and areas are much less than those of the major ports . Examples are - Chennai Port Trust, Tamil Nadu, Mundra Port Trust, Gujarat.
  • Major Ports : These are the big ports which have all Facilities that Conform to the set standards. These are very important ports . Ths ports which have all facilities for incoming & outgoing ships are known as major ports. India has 12 major ports controlled by the port trusts. Examples are - Kandla, Mumbai, Haldia etc . 
  • Major Sea Ports : Apart from national and inland waterways, India's trade with foreign countries is carried from the ports that are located along the coast.The country's 95% foreign trade is moved by sea that constitute 68%o in terms of value. With a long coastline of about 7516.6 km, India has 12 major and  187 intermediate and minor ports.  Some prominent sea ports of India are discussed below

  • Kandla is a tidal port located in Kuchchh region of Gujarat. This port was developed soon after independence to compensate the loss of Karachi port to Pakistan. lt was also meant to ease the volume of trade on Mumbai port. It deals in exports and imports of highly productive granary and industrial belt of states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.Major imports entering the Port of Kandla are petroleum, chemicals, and iron and steel and iron machinery; it also handles salt, textiles, and grain. Kandla is also the first Export Processing Zone in India (1965).
  • Mumbai is the biggest port of India with a spacious,natural and well-sheltered harbour. The Jawaharlal Nehru port in Uran has been also developed to decongest the Mumbai port and serve as a hub port for Northern Maharashtra.Mumbai Port has played an important role in the development of trade and commerce in the country. The port, which was designed to handle general cargo, has adapted to the changing times. It is now also capable of handling containerised cargo.
  • Marmagao in Goa is the premier iron ore exporting port of the country, shipping half of India's iron ore exports.
  • New Mangalore in Karnataka exports iron ore concentrates from the Kudremukh mines located in Karnataka.
  • Kochchi is the extreme South-Western port of India, located at the entrance of a lagoon with a natural harbour.
  • Tuticorin is extreme South-Enstern port of India  located in Tamil Nadu. This port has a natural harbour and rich hinterland. It handles a large varieny  of cargoes to countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives ete and to the coastal regions of India.
  • Chennai is one of the oldest artificial ports of the country and ranked next to Mumbai in the volume ae  trade and cargo.
  • Visakhapatnam is the deepest landlocked and well-protected port. This conceived as an outlet for iron ore exports,
  • Paradwip port in Caishi specialises in the export of iron ore.
  • Kolkata is an inland riverine port. It servers the hinterland of the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. It is also a tidal port, thus it required constant dredging of Hoogly.
  • Haldia has been developed as a subsidiary port to relievegrowing pressure on the kolkata port.
  • Export Processing Zones : An export processing zone, or EPZ, is an area set up to enhance commercial and industrial exports by encouraging economic growth through investment from foreign entities. Incentives such as tax exemptions and a barrier-free environment are the main attractions of an EPZ.

    Sample Questions
    (More Questions for each concept available in Login)
    Question : 1

    The deepest, land-locked and protected port on the east coast is ________ .

    Right Option : D
    View Explanation
    Explanation
    Question : 2

    Which mode of transportation reduces trans-shipment losses and delays?

    Right Option : D
    View Explanation
    Explanation
    Question : 3

    National waterway No.1  covers the area between _________ .

    Right Option : A
    View Explanation
    Explanation
     
     
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