Social Sciences: Class 10 (Part 1) — Chapter 7: Lifelines of National Economy

• Land: Roadways, Railways, and Pipelines.
• Water: Inland and Overseas.
• Air: Domestic Airways (Public Undertaking and Private Airlines) and International Airways.

• Construction cost of roads is much lower than that of railway lines.
• Roads can traverse comparatively more dissected and undulating topography.
• Roads can negotiate higher gradients of slopes and traverse mountainous terrains like the Himalayas.
• Road transport is economical for transporting few persons and smaller amounts of goods over short distances.
• It provides door-to-door service, reducing loading and unloading costs.
• It acts as a feeder to other modes of transport, linking railway stations, air ports, and sea ports.

• Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways: A major road development project linking Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai and Delhi by six-lane Super Highways. It includes the North-South corridor linking Srinagar to Kanniyakumari, and the East-West corridor connecting Silchar to Porbandar. Implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
• National Highways: Primary road systems linking extreme parts of the country, maintained by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
• State Highways: Roads linking a state capital with different district headquarters, constructed and maintained by the State Public Works Department (PWD).
• District Roads: Connect district headquarters with other places of the district, maintained by the Zila Parishad.
• Other Roads: Rural roads linking rural areas and villages with towns, which received impetus under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana.
• Border Roads: Constructed and maintained by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) (established in 1960) in the bordering areas of strategic importance.

• Metalled Roads: Made of cement, concrete, or bitumen of coal. These are all-weather roads.
• Unmetalled Roads: Go out of use during the rainy season.

The World's longest Highway tunnel, Atal Tunnel (9.02 Km), has been built by the Border Road Organisation. It connects Manali to Lahul-Spiti valley throughout the year, bypassing heavy snowfall blockages in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas at an altitude of $3000$ metres from Mean Sea Level (MSL).

• The Indian Railways is the largest public sector undertaking in the country.
• The first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane in 1853, covering a distance of $34\text{ km}$.
• The Indian Railway is reorganised into 17 zones.
• The distribution pattern of the railway network is influenced by physiographic, economic, and administrative factors. The northern plains provide the most favourable conditions, while hilly terrains, sandy deserts, and forested tracks present major obstacles.

• Broad Gauge ($1.676\text{ m}$): Route length of $63,950\text{ km}$.
• Metre Gauge ($1.000\text{ m}$): Route length of $2,402\text{ km}$.
• Narrow Gauge ($0.762\text{ m}$ and $0.610\text{ m}$): Route length of $1,604\text{ km}$.

• From oil fields in upper Assam to Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) via Guwahati, Barauni, and Prayagraj.
• From Salaya in Gujarat to Jalandhar in Punjab via Viramgam, Mathura, Delhi, and Sonipat.
• The first cross-country gas pipeline: Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ) ($1,700\text{ km}$ long), linking Mumbai High and Bassein gas fields with fertilizer, power, and industrial complexes in western and northern India.

India has inland navigation waterways of $14,500\text{ km}$ in length. Under the National Waterways Act, 2016, 111 inland waterways have been declared as National Waterways, including:

• NW No. 1: The Ganga river between Prayagraj and Haldia ($1620\text{ km}$).
• NW No. 2: The Brahmaputra river between Sadiya and Dhubri ($891\text{ km}$).
• NW No. 3: The West-Coast Canal in Kerala ($205\text{ km}$).
• NW No. 4: Specified stretches of Godavari and Krishna rivers ($1078\text{ km}$).
• NW No. 5: Specified stretches of river Brahmani ($588\text{ km}$).

With a coastline of $11098.81\text{ km}$, India is dotted with 12 major and 200 notified non-major ports. Major ports handle $95\%$ of India's foreign trade:

• Deendayal Port (Kandla): A tidal port developed soon after Independence to ease volume on Mumbai port.
• Mumbai Port: The biggest port with a spacious natural and well-sheltered harbour.
• Mormugao Port (Goa): Premier iron ore exporting port, accounting for about $50\%$ of India's iron ore export.
• New Mangalore Port: Caters to the export of iron ore concentrates from Kudremukh mines.
• Cochin Port: Located at the entrance of a lagoon with a natural harbour.
• Tuticorin Port (V.O. Chidambaranar): Located in Tamil Nadu, has a natural harbour and rich hinterland.
• Chennai Port: One of the oldest artificial ports, ranked next to Mumbai in cargo volume.
• Vishakhapatnam Port: The deepest landlocked and well-protected port.
• Paradwip Port: Located in Odisha, specializes in the export of iron ore.
• Kolkata Port (Shyama Prasad Mookerjee): An inland riverine tidal port serving the vast Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.
• Haldia Port: Developed as a subsidiary port to relieve pressure on Kolkata port.

• Pawanhans Helicopters Ltd.: Provides helicopter services to ONGC in off-shore operations and to inaccessible areas in the north-eastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
• UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik): A regional connectivity scheme designed to make flying affordable for the common citizen and jump-start the regional aviation market.

• Indian Postal Network: The largest in the world. It classifies mail into:
• First-class mail: Cards and envelopes, which are airlifted.
• Second-class mail: Book packets, registered newspapers, and periodicals, carried by surface mail.
• Six Mail Channels: Introduced for quick delivery: Rajdhani, Metro, Green, Business, Bulk Mail, and Periodical Channels.
• Telecom Network: India has one of the largest telecom networks in Asia, with extensive Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) facilities integrated with space technology.
• Mass Media: Includes Radio (All India Radio/Akashwani), Television (Doordarshan), Newspapers (published in about 100 languages, with Hindi being the largest), and Films (certified by the Central Board of Film Certification).
• Digital India: An umbrella programme to prepare India for a knowledge-based transformation.

• Favourable Balance of Trade: When the value of exports exceeds the value of imports.
• Unfavourable Balance of Trade: When the value of imports exceeds the value of exports.