\u201cThese roads (waterways) do not serve\ntransportation alone, they also bind our fatherlands\u201d, said famous German\nengineer, Fritz Tobt. Water, no doubt, is the life element of living world. All\nevolutionary changes have taken place through the water platform. Water\ntransport is the cheapest means of transport in comparison with other systems\nlike roadways, airways and railways. It is a widespread and maintenance-free\nmode of transportation. The advantage of this mode of transport is that our\nearth is three-fourths water while land is only one fourth. This predominance\nof water as a cost-effective and pollution-free mode of transport makes it\nattractive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evolution of human beings gave rise to\ndifferent modes of transportation for people and goods. The importance of\nwaterways and the vital role that they play in national and international\ncommerce and transportation sectors cannot be understated. Globally, the\nmaximum number of ships, ferries and cargo vessels are from China, UK, USA,\nFrance, Japan and Russia. In ancient times only Britain, Portugal and France\nhad advanced ships and overseas merchant fleets. These nations captured every\npage of history due to their maritime strength. They were strong in\nAstrophysics and Nautical Science but India was not far away from the\ncompetition. Ancient Indians had established overseas mercantile links with\nIndonesia, Japan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and other Asian countries. Before\nmodernisation, humans used to transport daily-use goods from one place to\nanother linked with sea coast or river banks or high and low water. There are\nsome people who live using an ancient mode of existence like the Jarawa tribe\nin Andaman and Nicobar Islands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nowadays, we use road, rail and to a limited\nextent air transport. Road transport requires wide and express highways to\nminimise the travelling time of vehicles but it adversely affects the\nenvironment, agricultural lands etc. Expansion of the railway system also\ncauses slow progress, agricultural and forest land loss, construction of flyovers,\nbridges and underways which has a negative effect on the environment. Air\ntransport has limited use as modern means of carrying goods. It cannot be used\nfor carrying bulky goods and extensive use is restricted. Road transport system\nproduces highest percentage of pollutants, smoke and harmful gases. Water\ntransport is the least polluting mode of transportation. Waterways can be\nmapped and set up for operation with relative ease. Water transport through\ninland waterways is the oldest mode of transport and is as old as time. Inland\nwaterways may be defined as the mode of transportation within a nation using\nrivers, lakes, high and low tides and sea coasts. It is widely used in\ncountries like England, Russia, Maldives, Indonesia, China and a few island nations.\nThese countries have implemented the latest technology in Inland waterways in\nsuch a way that half of their expenditure is saved on transportation. This\ndevelopment attracts tourists for water sports and other water activities that\nhelp in economic growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the case of Indian Inland waterways as a\nmeans for progressive future and socio-economic development. During the British\nera only the road system was improved and railways were started by the East\nIndia Company. The main aim behind their development was to bring goods or\nmined products to the sea coast so that water transport might be fed\nsufficiently. The British were advanced in water transport and hence they put a\nlittle stress on its progress in India. They neglected the Inland Waterways but\nfacilitated the oceanic transport as they could easily travel from India to\nEngland and anywhere else. They reframed Inland waterways in West Bengal,\nKerala, Assam and Bombay regions. Before Independence, India had more than 80\nbig merchant ships for oceanic as well as coastal transport. After\nindependence, that number went down and weakened our oceanic trade. During\nWorld War I & II, in both the cases overseas mercantile trade was almost\nstopped. Roads and railway tracks were bombarded but Inland Waterways helped in\ntransportation of soldiers, arms and ammunition from one part to another part\nwithin those countries. Indeed, during any external aggression, Inland\nWaterways will play an important role in India. It will be easy to transport\nman & materials, arms & ammunition etc. from eastern coast to western\ncoast and vice versa. Roadways, railways and oceanic transport may be disturbed\nduring war by the enemy but there is very little possibility of disturbing the\nnetwork of internal waterways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India had two Shipping Corporations, Eastern\nShipping Corporation established in 1950 and Western Shipping Corporation in\n1956. Inland waterways were under these Shipping Corporations. When India\nrealised the importance of water transport for export and import of goods,\nbulky materials, the Shipping Corporation of India was established under the\ncommand and control of the Ministry of Shipping. Certain policies and guidance\nwere introduced for smooth and effective running of the Corporation. In 1961\nboth Eastern and Western Shipping Corporations came under the function of\nShipping Corporation of India (SCI) and Inland waterways also. The Central\nGovernment has announced 106 Inland waterways that includes modifications and\nsetting up of new harbours and jetties for restarting water transport. There\nare already five existing live Inland Waterways. The Ministry of Shipping in\nclose coordination with the Ministry of Finance has assured that these\nwaterways will be functional and opened for public purposes. The National\nWaterways Act, 2016 has identified an additional 101 waterways as National\nWaterways. The Act states that while inland waterways are recognised as a\nfuel efficient, cost effective and environment friendly mode of transport, it\nhas received lesser investment as compared to roads and railways. Since inland\nwaterways are lagging behind other modes of transport, the Central Government\nhas evolved a policy for integrated development of Inland Waterways. Their\ndevelopment will lead to an increase in trade & commerce, tourism and an\nupsurge in passenger traffic contributing to a growth in the economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sea beaches in Goa are natural and attractive,\nbut few of them have water sports facilities for national or international\ntourists. Local authorities should take steps to fulfil the growing demands of\ntourists that will add to the government revenue. Karnataka is not well\ndeveloped like that of Kerala in having a network of waterways or avenues for\nwater sports. Kerala is an example among all Indian states where the State Government\ngives importance to internal water transport. People and tourists in Kerala\neasily travel from one place to another by using Inland Waterways. Internal\nwaterways in Tamil Nadu can be developed and achieve more financial growth.\nAndhra Pradesh and Odisha have the infrastructure for expansion of Inland\nwaterways but there is the need of concerted measures by the Central and State\ngovernments for its development. West Bengal and Assam have improved their\ninternal water transport but they are not comparable with Kerala and\nMaharashtra. Maharashtra has significantly improved inland water transport in\nMumbai area but it needs expansion throughout the coastal region so that goods\ncan be moved easily from one place to another using waterways. It is time-saving\nand does not require extra expenditure. Gujarat is also developing its own\ninternal water transport. Moreover, Assam, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,\nKarnataka and Gujarat need special sanction and attention for development of\ninland waterways to match that of West Bengal, Kerala and Maharashtra. In\nAndaman and Nicobar Islands, Inland Waterways are the lifeline of the\nislanders. Many natural harbours and adjoining areas need to be developed. Some\nof them are Maya Bundar Harbour area, Diglipur Aerial Bay, Nil Island, Hutbay\nand other South Andaman Islands. \n\nSpecial development measures should be recommended for those areas where\nnatural sceneries and white sandy beaches are in existence. Maldives, a small\ncountry in Indian Ocean is a suitable example. This island country has improved\nits inter-island water transport system effectively. Movements of boats and\nferries there are just like the movements of vehicles on a busy Indian highway.\nRecently, India has been elected to International Maritime Organisation (IMO)\nof the United Nations and this is a golden chance to strengthen our water\ntransport. India has infrastructure,\nhuman resource but lacks strong determination and disciplined work. All South\nIndian and East Indian rivers should be interconnected to expand the network of\nInland Waterways. These networks of waterways have the potential to be the\nlifeline of the people and contribute to the financial growth of the nation.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Lifeline Of A Nation \u201cThese roads (waterways) do not serve transportation alone, they also bind our fatherlands\u201d, said famous German engineer, Fritz Tobt. Water, no doubt, is the life element of living world. All evolutionary changes have taken place through the water platform. Water transport is the cheapest means of transport in comparison with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}