Transport

Road Transport: AdvantagesRoads are important as they are necessary in the transport of people and goods over short distances.They are cheap and easy to construct and maintain.Roads can be constructed in hilly areas as they can negotiate sharp bends and steep slopes.Roads act as feeders to railways. Railways depend on Roads for the distribution and collection of goods they carry.Roads are more flexible than rail transport. They are more accessible to different places than railways.Perishable commodities like milk, fruits and vegetables are more quickly carried by roadways than railways.

ContentsRoad TransportRoad Transport: DisadvantagesRoads are not suitable for long-distance travel.Heavy commodities like coal and iron cannot be transported easily by roads.The rapid rise in the number of vehicles on the roads has resulted in increasing air pollution.It is more expensive than rail transport.

ContentsRoad TransportRoad Transport: What is the Golden Quadrilateral?On the basis of importance and maintenance, Indian roads can be divided into the Golden Quadrilateral Superhighway. The National Highway Development Project has taken up a massive programme of road building in the country.The Golden Quadrilateral comprises the National Highways connecting Delhi- Mumbai- Chennai- Kolkata by a 6-lane superhighway. It has a total length of 5846 km. The four sides are of different lengths. The Mumbai-Chennai is the shortest and the Mumbai-Kolkata is the longest.ContentsRoad TransportRoad Transport: North-South and East-West CorridorThe North-South corridor comprises the National Highways connecting Srinagar to Kanniyakumari. The East-West Corridor comprises the National Highways connecting Silchar (Assam) to Porbandar (Gujarat). The Construction has led to general improvement of the area, and also reduction in vehicle-operating costs, travel time and more employment.ContentsRoad TransportAir Transport: Use of Helicopter ServicesFor inaccessible areas like interior of Jammu and Kashmir, mountainous areas of Uttaranchal and North-Eastern StatesProvides services to ONGC for offshore installationCalamity zonesAdversely affected areasFlooded areasDefense and bordersElection Campaigns

ContentsAir TransportAir Transport: PavanhansIt is a helicopter service operating in hilly areas and it is widely used by tourists in the North-Eastern sector. Besides Pavanhans Ltd. mainly provides helicopter services to petroleum sector and inaccessible areas.ContentsAir TransportWater Transport: National Waterway 3 (NW3)It stretches from Kottapuram to Kollam for 205 km. It includes 168 km of west-coast canal along with Champakara and Udyogmandal canal.

Water TransportContentsRoad Transport: ExpresswaysExpressways have been constructed to ensure swift and smooth travel between important towns. Expressways in India typically have a 6-lane highway, divided in the middle by a wide divider. Usually no 2-wheelers or 3-wheelers or tractor vehicles are allowed on the expressway. Speeds along these roads are generally maintained above 120 km/h. Most of the expressways are toll roads. Two important expressways are the Mumbai-Pune expressway and the Kolkata-Durgapur expressway.ContentsRoad Transport