Contemporary India - Transportation and Communication

even our neighbouring countries like Sri Think of the north-eastern part of the country, Lanka, Maldives, etc. and the coastal regions marked with the presence of big rivers, of India. Chennai is one of the oldest artificial dissected relief, dense fores...

even our neighbouring countries like Sri Think of the north-eastern part of the country, Lanka, Maldives, etc. and the coastal regions marked with the presence of big rivers, of India. Chennai is one of the oldest artificial dissected relief, dense forests and frequent ports of the country. It is ranked next to floods and international frontiers, etc. in the Mumbai in terms of the volume of trade and absence of air transport. Air travel has made cargo. Vishakhapatnam is the deepest access easier. landlocked and well-protected port. This port Pawanhans Helicopters Ltd. provides was, originally, conceived as an outlet for iron helicopter services to Oil and Natural Gas ore exports. Paradwip port located in Odisha, Corporation in its off-shore operations, to specialises in the export of iron ore. Kolkata is inaccessible areas and difficult terrains like the an inland riverine port. This port serves a very north-eastern states and the interior parts of large and rich hinterland of Ganga- Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh Brahmaputra basin. Being a tidal port, it requires constant dredging of Hoogly. Haldia and Uttarakhand. port was developed as a subsidiary port, in order to relieve growing pressure on the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) is a first- Kolkata port. of-its kind scheme globally, designed to jump-start the regional aviation market. Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN was conceived by the Ministry of Aviation (MoCA) to promote regional connectivity by making fly affordable for the common citizen. The central idea of the scheme is to encourage airlines to operate flights on regional and remote routes through enabling policies and extending incentives. Fig. 7.8: Handling of oversize cargo at Tuticorin port Communication Airways Ever since humans appeared on the earth, they The air travel, today, is the fastest, most have used different means of communication. comfortable and prestigious mode of transport. But, the pace of change, has been rapid in modern times. Long distance communication is far easier without physical movement of the communicator or receiver. Personal communication and mass communication including television, radio, press, films, etc. are the major means of communication in the country. The Indian postal network is the largest in the world. It handles parcels as well as personal written communications. Cards and envelopes are considered first-class mail and are airlifted between stations covering both land and air. The second-class mail includes book packets, registered newspapers and periodicals. They are carried by surface mail, Why is air travel prefered in the north-eastern covering land and water transport. To facilitate states? quick delivery of mails in large towns and cities, Fig. 7.9 six mail channels have been introduced recently. They are called Rajdhani Channel, It can cover very difficult terrains like high Metro Channel, Green Channel, Business mountains, dreary deserts, dense forests and Channel, Bulk Mail Channel and also long oceanic stretches with great ease. Periodical Channel. 78 CONTEMPORARY INDIA – II Reprint 2024-25