<h5 id="land-transport">Land Transport</h5> <ul> <li>Land transport in India has evolved from unmetalled roads to metalled roads and railways.</li> <li>This evolution is a result of economic and technological development.</li> <li>Ropeways, cableways, and pipelines were created to address the needs of transporting specific goods under certain conditions.</li> <li>The primary purpose of these developments was to facilitate the movement of large volumes of goods and people.</li> <li>The advancements in land transport have been driven by the need to improve efficiency and mobility.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="road-transport">Road Transport</h5> <ul> <li>India has a vast road network of about 62.16 lakh km, with around 85% of passenger and 70% of freight traffic relying on it.</li> <li>The concept of road transport in its modern form was not prevalent before World War-II. The first significant effort, the ‘Nagpur Plan’ in 1943, could not be implemented due to coordination issues among princely states and British India.</li> <li>Post-independence, a 20-year road plan was introduced in 1961 to enhance road conditions, but connectivity remains poor in rural and remote areas.</li> <li>Roads are categorized into National Highways (NH), State Highways (SH), Major District Roads, and Rural Roads for construction and maintenance purposes.</li> <li>Historically, Sher Shah Suri built the Shahi (Royal) road, later renamed the Grand Trunk (GT) road, connecting Calcutta and Peshawar.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="national-highways">National Highways</h5> <ul> <li>The total length of roads in India is approximately 6215797 km, with National Highways making up 1364402 km, State Highways 1768183 km, and Other Roads 5902539 km.</li> <li>The Golden Quadrilateral is a 5846 km long 4/6 lane high density traffic corridor connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, aimed at minimizing time, distance, and cost of movement among India’s mega cities.</li> <li>North-South and East-West Corridors are other major projects, with the North-South corridor connecting Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir with Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu (including Kochchi-Salem Spur) and the East-West Corridor connecting Silchar in Assam with the port town of Porbandar in Gujarat.</li> <li>Rural roads are vital for providing links in rural areas, with about 80% of the total road length in India categorized as rural roads. These roads’ density is low in hilly, plateau, and forested areas due to the nature of the terrain.</li> <li>Border Roads and International Highways are included in Other Roads, with the Border Road Organisation (BRO) constructing roads in high altitude mountainous terrain and undertaking snow clearance in high altitude areas. The Atal Tunnel, the world’s longest highway tunnel, was built by the BRO in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="rail-transport">Rail Transport</h5> <ul> <li> <p>The Indian Railways has three categories of tracks based on width: broad gauge (1.676 meters), metre gauge (1 meter), and narrow gauge (0.762 meters or 0.610 meters).</p> </li> <li> <p>The total lengths of broad gauge, metre gauge, and narrow gauge lines in 2019-20 were 63950 km, 2402 km, and 1604 km, respectively.</p> </li> <li> <p>Indian Railways is converting metre and narrow gauges to broad gauge and has replaced steam engines with diesel and electric ones, increasing speed and haulage capacity and improving the environment.</p> </li> <li> <p>Metro rail has improved urban transport in India, with the replacement of diesel buses by CNG-run vehicles and metro introduction helping control air pollution in urban centers.</p> </li> <li> <p>Konkan Railway, a 760-km long route connecting Roha in Maharashtra to Mangalore in Karnataka, is an engineering marvel constructed in 1998, crossing 146 rivers, nearly 2000 bridges, and 91 tunnels, with Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka as partners.</p> </li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="water-transport">Water Transport</h5> <ul> <li>Waterways is a significant mode of transport in India for passengers and cargo.</li> <li>It is the cheapest and most eco-friendly mode of transport, suitable for heavy and bulky goods.</li> <li>Inland waterways were the primary mode of transport before railways but faced competition from road and railway transport.</li> <li>India has 14,500 km of navigable waterways, including rivers, canals, backwaters, and creeks, contributing 1% to the country’s transportation.</li> <li>The Inland Waterways Authority was established in 1986 for the development, maintenance, and regulation of national waterways, with 5,685 km of major rivers currently navigable by mechanized flat-bottom vessels.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="oceanic-routes">Oceanic Routes</h5> <ul> <li>India has a extensive coastline of about 7,517 km, including islands, with 12 major and 185 minor ports.</li> <li>Oceanic routes are crucial for India’s economy, with approximately 95% of foreign trade by volume and 70% by value being transported through them.</li> <li>They also serve the purpose of transporting goods between the islands and the mainland.</li> <li>These routes play a significant role in the transport sector of India’s economy.</li> <li>A large portion of India’s foreign trade is reliant on these oceanic routes.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="air-transportation">Air Transportation</h5> <ul> <li>Air transportation is the fastest means of long-distance travel, particularly beneficial for large countries like India with diverse terrain and climatic conditions.</li> <li>The history of air transport in India began in 1911 with airmail operations, and its development accelerated post-Independence.</li> <li>The Airport Authority of India is responsible for ensuring safe and efficient air traffic and aeronautical communication services, managing 125 airports across the country.</li> <li>Pawan Hans, a helicopter service, operates in hilly areas and is popular among tourists in the north-eastern sector, primarily serving the petroleum sector and tourism.</li> <li>Equation: None</li> <li>Examples/Solutions: Not provided in the text.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="oil-and-gas-pipelines">Oil and Gas Pipelines</h5> <ul> <li>Pipelines are efficient for transporting liquids, gases, and even converted solids over long distances.</li> <li>Oil India Limited (OIL), under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is involved in exploring, producing, and transporting crude oil and natural gas.</li> <li>OIL constructed Asia’s first cross-country pipeline, spanning 1,157 km from Naharkatiya oilfield in Assam to Barauni refinery in Bihar, further extended to Kanpur in 1966.</li> <li>GAIL (India) Ltd., set up in 1984, is responsible for transporting, processing, and marketing natural gas. Its first 1,700 km Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline significantly boosted Indian gas market development.</li> <li>India’s gas infrastructure has expanded from 1,700 km to 18,500 km of cross-country pipelines and is expected to reach over 34,000 km, creating a Gas Grid linking all gas sources and consuming markets across the country, including North Eastern States.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="communication-networks">Communication Networks</h5> <ul> <li>Communication networks have evolved from simple methods like drumbeats and smoke signals to advanced methods using technology.</li> <li>The mode of communication can be categorized based on scale and quality into: <ul> <li>Interpersonal Communication: One-on-one communication between two individuals.</li> <li>Mass Communication: One-to-many communication from one source to many receivers.</li> <li>Interactive Communication: Two-way communication between two or more parties.</li> </ul> </li> <li>The development of communication networks has been facilitated by inventions such as the post office, telegraph, printing press, telephone, and satellite.</li> <li>The advancement of science and technology has significantly contributed to the revolution in the field of communication.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="personal-communication-system">Personal Communication System</h5> <ul> <li>The most advanced personal communication system is the internet, which is widely used in urban areas.</li> <li>It allows users to establish direct contact through email, providing access to a vast amount of knowledge and information.</li> <li>The internet is increasingly used for ecommerce and money transactions, serving as a central warehouse of data with detailed information on various items.</li> <li>The network through the internet and email provides an efficient and comparatively low-cost access to information.</li> <li>It provides the basic facilities of direct communication.</li> </ul> <p>======</p> <h5 id="mass-communication-system">Mass Communication System</h5> <ul> <li>Radio broadcasting started in India in 1923, with All India Radio (AIR) established in 1930, and was changed to Akashwani in 1957. It broadcasts a variety of programs related to information, education, and entertainment.</li> <li>Television broadcasting began in 1959 and was delinked from AIR in 1976, gaining a separate identity as Doordarshan (DD). INSAT-IA became operational in 1982, leading to Common National Programmes (CNP) for the entire network.</li> <li>Satellite communication plays a vital role in the country for economic and strategic reasons, with satellite images used for weather forecast, monitoring natural calamities, surveillance of border areas, etc.</li> <li>The Indian National Satellite System (INSAT), established in 1983, is a multi-purpose satellite system for telecommunication, meteorological observation, and various other data and programs.</li> <li>The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite System (IRS) became operational in 1988, used for collecting data in several spectral bands and transmitting them to ground stations for various uses, particularly useful in natural resource management.</li> </ul> <p>======</p>