Quick revision module

(UPSC prelims 2022) Geography

 WATER TRANSPORT

Water transport

Inland Ocean
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Rivers Canals Lakes Coastal Shipping

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–for passengers
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–for cargo
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–Boats
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–Steamers etc.
Overseas Shipping

Liners Tramps Tankers

Cargo Passengers

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 Inland Waterways:

Necessary Conditions

1. P
 erennial river or water should flow in sufficient quantity throughout the
year.
Seasonal rivers are unsuitable for navigation.
2. Inconvenient in rivers having rapids or waterfalls.
3. Water in rivers, lakes and canals should not freeze during winter season.
4. Silt deposition should not be there.
5. The course of rivers should not be full of curves as it increase the time of
Transportation.
6. Rivers should not change their courses during floods.
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Advantages
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1. T
 ransportation of heavy and bulky goods is easy and cheap. Coal, different
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ores, wood and big size manufactured goods are suitable for water
transport.
2. Rivers and lakes are natural routes. Expenditure on their construction and
maintenance is not required.
3. Waterways experience comparatively few accidents.
4. R
 ivers are the only means of transport in thick forested lands of heavy
rainfall.

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 Limitations

1. T
 ime is lost due to slow speed. Hence, they are not suitable for transporting
perishable.
2. M
 ost of the rivers flow far away from the densely populated areas where
demand for transportation is more. Hence, this mode of transportation
presents difficulties.
3. S
 easonal change in the flow and depth of water creates problem in
transportation.
4. Added expenditure: For keeping desired depth in the rivers, lakes and
canals, silting of sand and soil is to be removed regularly.

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 Distribution of Inland Waterways in India

MAP OF INDIA
SHOWING IMPORTANT WATERWAYS
N
TA

CHINA
IS

TIBET
K
PA

DELHI
NE
PA R.
L UTRA
BHUTAN M AP
AH
BR
PANDU NW-2
GANGA BARAK R.
R.

NW-1 BANGLADESH KARIMGANJ

DHULAN

KOLKATA
BR
AH

AR . MAHAN
NARMAD ADI R. NW-5
MA

TARI MYANMAR
NI

R . SUNDERBANS
R.

I N D I A EAST COAST CANAL

GODAVARI R.
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SEA KR ELURU CANAL

KAKINADA CANAL
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COMMAMURU CANAL
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MANDOVI. ZUARI RIVERS

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& CUMBERJUA CANAL

BUCKINGHAM CANAL
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BENGAL
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LAKSHADWEEP UDYOGAMANDAL CANAL ANDMAN & NICOBAR

ISLANDS
WEST COAST CANAL
NW-3 CHAMPAKKARA CANAL
Legend
SRI L

Declared
Under consideration
ANK

Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route

INDIAN OCEAN
A

National waterway-1 (1986):

Allahabad–Haldia stretch of the Ganges–Bhagirathi–Hooghly River of total

length 1620 km. Passes through UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
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 National Waterway-2 (1998):

Sadiya–Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra River of total length 891 km. The
river Brahmaputra receives a number of tributaries like Subansiri,Jia Bharali,
Dihing, Burhi Dihing, Disang, Dhansiri and Kopili.

National Waterway-3 (1993):

Kollam–Kottapuram stretch of West Coast Canal and Champakara and

Udyogmandal canals of total length 205 km. This waterway comprises of
natural lakes, back-waters, river sections and man-made canal sections. The
Champakara and Udyogmandal canals link industrial centres of Ambalamugal
and Udyogmandal with the Kochi port.

National Waterway- 4 (2008):

Kakinada–Pondicherry stretch of canals and Kaluvelly tank, Bhadrachalam–

Rajahmundry stretch of River Godavari and Wazirabad–Vijayawada stretch
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of River Krishna of total length 1095 km.

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National Waterway-5 (2008):

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Talcher–Dhamra stretch of rivers, Geonkhali–Charbatia stretch of East Coast

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Canal, Charbatia–Dhamra stretch of Matai river and Mahanadi delta rivers of

total length 620 km.

National Waterway-6 (2013):

Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of 121 km of the Barak. It will result in unified

development of the waterways for shipping and navigation and transportation
of cargo to the North Eastern Region particularly in the states of Assam,
Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

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 Distribution of Inland Waterways in
the World

Important Waterways

Rhine Waterway
F lows through Switzerland (source), Germany, France, Belgium and the
Netherlands.
On its banks are located main cities of Europe like Strasbourg {France},
Bonn, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Rotterdam.
Cargo of industrial products, coal food grains in addition to passengers
and tourists

Danube Waterway
T
 he Danube rises in the Black Forest of Germany and flows eastwards
through Austria, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania
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and other countries and then joins the landlocked Black Sea.
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C
 argos carrying export items are wheat, maize, timber, and machinery
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sail in the river along with tourism.

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Great Lakes- St. Lawrence Seaway

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T
 his waterway flows through the St. Lawrence River of the United States
and Canada. It is therefore the longest and busiest inland waterway of
the world.
Agro-products, machines, iron ore, coal, petroleum, limestone, etc. are
mainly transported from the ports like Duluth and Buffalo, which are
equipped with all modern facilities.
The Great Lakes region of North America consists of Lakes Superior,
Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.

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 Mississippi Waterway
M
 ississippi River has its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flow in
interior parts of North America joining the Gulf of Mexico.
About 16 km north its tributary Saint Louis Missouri joins it.
T
 he Mississippi-Ohio waterway connects the interior part of U.5.A with
the Gulf of Mexico in the south.

Volga Waterway
V
 olga is Europe’s biggest river and has large number of developed
waterways.
A
 fter rising from in the Valdai Hills north-west of Moscow, it drains into
Caspian Sea. Oaka River is its major right bank tributary.
T
 he river is connected to river Don by a canal which flows into the Black
Sea
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 Types of Ports on the basis of cargo:

Industrial Ports

Locations
These ports specialise in bulk cargo-like grain, sugar, ore, oil, chemicals and
similar materials.

Example
Mundra Port, Gujarat and Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust

Commercial Ports

Locations
These ports handle general cargo-packaged products and manufactured
goods. These ports also handle passenger traffic.
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Example
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Mumbai Port
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Comprehensive Ports

Locations
Such ports handle bulk and general cargo in large volumes. Most of the
world’s great ports are classified as comprehensive ports.

Example
Chennai and Mumbai Port

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 Types of Ports on the basis of function:

Oil Ports

Locations
Deal in the processing and shipping of oil.

Example
Maracaibo in Venezuela, Esskhira in Tunisia, and Tripoli in Lebanon are tanker
ports. Abadan on the Gulf of Persia is a refinery port.

Ports of Call

Locations
Originally developed as calling points on main sea routes where ships used
to anchor for refuelling, watering and taking food items. Later on, they
developed into commercial ports.
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Example
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Aden, Honolulu and Singapore are good examples.

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Packet Station or ferry ports

Locations
Exclusively concerned with the transportation of passengers and mail across
water bodies covering short distances.
Example
They occur in pairs and located in such a way that they face each other across
the water body, e.g. Dover in England and Calais in France across the English
Channel.

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 Entrepot Ports

Locations
These are collection centres where the goods are brought from different
countries for export.
Example
Singapore is an entrepot for Asia, Rotterdam for Europe, andCopenhagen for
the Baltic region

Naval Ports

Locations
Strategically important. These ports serve warships and have repair
workshops for them.
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Example
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Kochi and Karwar are examples of naval ports in India

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 Types of Ports on the basis of location:

Inland Ports

Locations
These ports are located away from the sea coast.
They are linked to the sea through a river or a canal.
Such ports are accessible to flat bottom ships or barges.

Example
Manchester is linked with a canal; Memphis is located on the river Mississippi;
Rhine has several ports like Mannheim and Duisburg; and Kolkata is located
on the river Hooghly.

Ports of Call

Locations
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These are deep water ports built away from the actual ports.
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They serve the parent ports by receiving those ships which are unable to
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approach them due to their large size.

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Example
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Athens and its out port Piraeus in Greece.

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 Major Ports in India
T
 he 13 major ports of India handle more than 95 per cent of our foreign
trade by volume and 70 per cent by value.

Mumbai Port is the busiest port with largest natural harbour.

Kandla Port developed immediately after independence.
Kochi Port is a natural port located along the coast of Kerala and is
popularly known as “Queen of the Arabian Sea”.
Chennai: It is the oldest artificial harbour on the east coast of India. It
is often hit by cyclones in October and November, making the shipping
difficult. It is not suited for large ships due to lesser depth of water.
I N D I A
MAJOR & INTERMEDIATE
SEA PORTS
Jammu and Ladakh
Kashmir

Himachal Pradesh
Punjab
Chandigarh Uttarakhand
Haryana
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Arunachal Pradesh
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Sikkim
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Uttar Pradesh
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Rajasthan Assam
Nagaland
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Bihar Meghalaya
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Deendayal Port Trust

Tripura Manipur
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(Kandla) Jharkhand
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Gujarat Madhya Pradesh

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West
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Bharuch Mizoram
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Bhavnagar Bengal
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Porbander
Surat Haldia
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Maharashtra Odisha
Ch

Veraval Paradip
Dadra & Nagar
Mumbai
Haveli and
Jawaharlal Nehru
Daman & Diu Visakhapatanam
Port

Ratnagiri
Telangana
Kakinada
Panaji
Machillipatnam
Goa
Marmagoa Andhra Pradesh Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Karnataka
Mangalore Ennore (Kamarajar Port)
Chennai

Puducherry
Lakshadweep Kochi
Nagapattanam

Kerala
Tamil Nadu
Alappuzha
Tuticonn
LEGEND
Major sea ports
Intermediate sea ports

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