Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening my friends, wherever
you are! This is 11:00 am. 15th August, 2014, Friday in India. Today
is the Independence Day of India! Time is running like water! Remember, this is
the 2nd Birthday of this blog! It has started journey from 2012, on
the same day! I don’t know, how much you like to read my blog; but believe me,
I really enjoy and love to talk with you all. For some personal reasons, I had
to stop for last few months; but I promise you to continue from today. Many of
you missed the features ‘Destination India’ and ‘Festivals of India’ and
requested to continue! Here is a good news for you – I definitely continue the
features and bonus is that, from now, you can know the details about how to
reach to your favorite destination! Isn't it interesting? Not only that, from
now, when I share Festivals, the special recipe for the occasion
will be shared in my food blog ‘From the Kitchen of an Indian Homemaker’. Not
enough?? Then, there is new Birthday Giveaway in the page, starting from today!
So cheer up and join me for fun…….
Before I start ‘Destination India’ with whereabouts of
transportation; let’s go for some history and details of Indian Transportation! Here I go……..
A well known and co-ordinate system of transport plays an
important role in the sustained economic growth of a country. The present
transport system of India comprises several modes of transport including rail,
road, coastal shipping, air transport, etc. Transportation in India has
recorded a substantial growth over the years both in spread of network and in
output of the system. The Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways is responsible
for the formation and implementation of policies and programmes for the
development of various modes of transport save the railways and the civil
aviation.
Railways:
Indian
Railways is one of the largest railways under single management. It
carries some 17 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of freight a day
in year 2007 and is one of the world’s largest employers. The
railways play a leading role in carrying passengers and cargo across India's
vast territory. However, most of its major corridors have capacity constraint
requiring capacity enhancement plans.
The network is
divided into 16 zones. Divisions are basic operating units. The 16 zones are
their respective headquarters are given below.
Zonal
Railways
|
Headquarters
|
Central
|
Mumbai CST
|
Eastern
|
Kolkata
|
Northern
|
New Delhi
|
Northern-Eastern
|
Gorakhpur
|
North-East Frontier
|
Maligaon (Guwahati)
|
Southern
|
Chennai
|
South Central
|
Secunderabad
|
South-Eastern
|
Kolkata
|
Western
|
Church Gate, Mumbai
|
East Central
Railway
|
Hajipur
|
East Coast Railway
|
Bhubaneshwar
|
North Central
Railway
|
Allahabad
|
North Western
Railway
|
Jaipur
|
South-East Central
Railway
|
Bilaspur
|
South-Western
Railway
|
Hubli
|
West Central
Railway
|
Jabalpur
|
Roads:
Roads are the dominant mode of transportation in
India today. They carry almost 90 percent of the country’s passenger traffic
and 65 percent of its freight. The density of India’s highway network -- at
0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land – is similar to that of the
United States (0.65) and much greater than China's (0.16) or Brazil's (0.20). India has one of the
largest road networks in the world, aggregating to about 33 lakh kilometers at
present. Though the National Highways, which is the responsibility of Central
Government, has length of roads, carries over 40 percent of the total traffic
across the length and breadth of the country.
National Highways/Expressways
|
65,590 km
|
State Highways
|
1,28,000 km
|
Major and other Disctric Roads
|
4,70,000 km
|
Rural Roads
|
26,50,000 km
|
The National Highways have further been classified depending upon the
carriageway width of the Highway. Generally, a lane has a width of 3.75 m in
case of single lane and 3.5 per lane in case of multilane National Highways.
Ports:
India has
12 major and 187 minor and intermediate ports along its more than 7500 km long coastline.
These ports serve the country’s growing foreign trade in petroleum products,
iron ore, and coal, as well as the increasing movement of containers. Inland
water transportation remains largely undeveloped despite India's 14,000
kilometers of navigable rivers and canals.
Aviation:
India has 125
airports, including 11 international airports. Indian airports handled 96
million passengers and 1.5 million tonnes of cargo in year 2006-2007, an
increase of 31.4% for passenger and 10.6% for cargo traffic over previous year.
The dramatic increase in air traffic for both passengers and cargo in recent
years has placed a heavy strain on the country's major airports.
Passenger traffic is projected to cross 100 million and cargo to cross 3.3
million tonnes by year 2010.
Transport infrastructure in India is better
developed in the southern and southwestern parts of the country.
That’s all for today! I forgot to tell that, from today, you
can join me in this blog on Monday and Friday; and also follow me in the food blog on Wednesday and Friday. So, will meet you again on
Monday. Till then…good bye…..take care of your family and yourself. Namaskar.
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