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Important National Highways in India
- According to the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH), there are 599 National Highways in India. Over a period of time, the numbering of National Highways in India has been renewed. The total length of National Highways is 132500 Kms.
- National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is an autonomous authority to develop, maintain, and manage the National Highways of India. Central Government has the power to notify any highway as the National Highway and such highway will be specified in the Schedule.
- The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is responsible for the development of National Highways.
- The government launched the Bharatmala Project for the development of about 26,000 km length of Economic Corridors, which along with Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and North-South and East-West (NS-EW) Corridors are expected to carry the majority of the Freight Traffic on roads.
National Highway | Length (in kilometers) | Route |
NH 44 (old NH 7) | 3,745 | Srinagar to Kanyakumari |
NH 27 | 3,507 | Porbandar in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam |
NH 48 (old NH 8) | 2,807 | Delhi to Chennai |
NH 52 | 2,317 | Sangrur, Punjab to Ankola, Karnataka |
NH 30 (Old NH 221) | 2,040 | Sitarganj in Uttarakhand to Ibrahimpatnam in Andhra Pradesh. |
NH 6 | 1,873 | Jorabat in Meghalaya and terminates at Selling in Mizoram |
NH 53 | 1,781 | Hajira in Gujarat and Pradip port in Odisha. |
NH 16 (Old NH 5) | 1,711 | East coast of West Bengal to Chennai in Tamil Nadu. |
NH 66 (Old NH 17) | 1,622 | Panvel and terminates at Kanyakumari |
NH 19 (Old NH 20) | 1,435 | Delhi to Kolkata |
NH 34 | 1,426 | Gangotri Dham in Uttarakhand to Lakhnadon in Madhya Pradesh |
Operational National Waterways in India:
Sl. No. | NW Number | River System | Route | Length (in km) | Locations | Established |
1 | NW – 1 | Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly | Prayagraj – Haldia | 1620 | Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal | 1986 |
2 | NW – 2 | Brahmaputra | Sadiya-Dhubri | 891 | Assam | 1988 |
3 | NW – 3 | West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal, and Udyogamandal Canal | Kottapuram – Kollam | 205 | Kerala | 1993 |
4 | NW – 4 | Krishna and Godavari | Kakinada–Puducherry stretch of canals, Kaluvelly Tank, Bhadrachalam – Rajahmundry, Waziraba–Vijayawada | 1095 | Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry | 2008 |
5 | NW – 10 | Amba River | 45 | Maharashtra | ||
6 | NW – 83 | Rajpuri Creek | 31 | Maharashtra | ||
7 | NW – 85 | Revadanda Creek – Kundalika River System | 31 | Maharashtra | ||
8 | NW – 91 | Shastri river–Jaigad creek system | 52 | Maharashtra | ||
9 | NW – 68 | Mandovi – Usgaon Bridge to the Arabian Sea | 41 | Goa | ||
10 | NW – 111 | Zuari– Sanvordem Bridge to Marmugao Port | 50 | Goa | ||
11 | NW – 73 | Narmada River | 226 | Gujarat and Maharashtra | ||
12 | NW – 100 | Tapi River | 436 | Gujarat and Maharashtra | ||
13 | NW – 97 (Sundarbans Waterways) | Namkhana to AtharaBankiKhal | Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route | 172 | West Bengal |
List of New Waterways in India
State | No. of rivers/canal | Name of the River / Canal |
Andhra Pradesh | 2 | Pennar and Tungabhadra |
Arunachal Pradesh | 1 | Lohit |
Assam | 14 | Aai, Barak, Beki, Dhansiri / Chathe, Dehing, Dikhu, Doyans, Gangadhar, Jinjiram, Kopili, Lohit, Puthimari, Subansiri and Tlwang (Dhaleswari) |
Bihar | 6 | Gandak, Ghaghra, Karamnasa, Kosi, Punpun and Sone |
Delhi | 1 | Yamuna |
Goa | 6 | Chapora, Cumberjua, Mandovi, Mapusa, Sal and Zuari |
Gujarat | 5 | Jawai-Luni – Rann of Kutch, Mahi, Narmada, Sabarmati and Tapi |
Haryana | 2 | Indira Gandhi Canal and Yamuna |
Himachal Pradesh | 3 | Beas, Ravi and Sutlej |
Jammu & Kashmir | 4 | Chenab, Indus, Jhelum and Ravi |
Jharkhand | 2 | Kherkai and Subarnarekha |
Karnataka | 11 | Bheema, Ghataprabha, Gurupur, Kabini, Kali, Malaprabha, Netravathi, Panchagangavali (Panchagangoli), Sharavati, Tungabhadra and Udayavara |
Kerala | 4 | AVM Canal, Alappuzha- Changanassery Canal, Alappuzha- Kottayam – Athirampuzha Canal and Kottayam-Vaikom Canal |
Amba, Arunawati – Aran, Dabhol Creek – Vashishti River, Kalyan-Thane-Mumbai Waterway – Vasai Creek – Ulhas River, Manjara, Nag, Narmada, Penganga – Wardha, Rajpuri Creek, Revadanda Creek – Kundalika River, Savitri (Bankot Creek), Shastri River – Jaigad Creek, Tapi and Wainganga – Pranahita | ||
Maharashtra | 14 | |
Meghalaya | 5 | Ganol, Jinjiram, Kynshi, Simsang and Umngot (Dawki) |
Mizoram | 1 | Tlwang (Dhaleswari) |
Nagaland | 1 | Tizu – Zungki |
Odisha | 5 | Baitarni, Birupa – Badi Genguti – Brahmani, Budha Balanga, Mahanadi and Subarnarekha |
Punjab | 3 | Beas, Indira Gandhi Canal and Sutlej |
Rajasthan | 3 | Indira Gandhi Canal, Jawai-Luni – Rann of Kutch and Luni |
Tamil Nadu | 9 | AVM Canal, Bhavani, Kaveri – Kollidam, Manimutharu, Palar, Pazhyar, Ponniyar, Tamaraparani and Vaigai |
Telangana | 5 | Bheema, Manjara, Penganga – Wardha, Tungabhadra and Wainganga – Pranahita |
Uttar Pradesh | 10 | Asi, Betwa, Chambal, Gandak, Ghaghra, Gomti, Karamnasa, Tons, Varuna and Yamuna |
Transportation plays an important role in the development of a country and it is of great significance for a developing country like India. The country is bestowed with a plethora of diverse topography which enables different kinds of transportation. India has about 14500 km of navigable waterways. This includes rivers, backwaters, canals, creeks, and so on.
- National Waterways Act came into effect in 2016. It proposed 106 additional National Waterways and merges 5 existing Acts which were declared the 5 National Waterways. As a result, 106 new waterways were identified by IWAI and intimated to MoS. In this regard, the National Waterways Act, 2016 was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section I dated 26th March, 2016 as an Act No. 17 of 2016
- In 1986, the Government of India created the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for regulation and development of Inland Waterways for navigation and shipping.
- Out of the 111, National Waterways declared under the National Waterways Act, 2016, 13 are operational for shipping and navigation and cargo/passenger vessels are moving on them.
Major Sea Ports in India
Major Sea Ports Currently, there is a total of 13 major seaports in India currently among which 12 are government-controlled and one, Ennore port of Chennai is the corporate one. These are located in the 9 coastal Indian states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and West Bengal).
S. No. | State | Name of Port | Points to Remember |
1. | Kerala | Kochi Port or Cochin Port | located on the Willington island on the South-Western coast of India The port is generally called as the natural gateway for the industrial and agricultural produce markets of South-West India. Exports of spices, tea, and coffee. It is one of the centers for shipbuilding. |
2. | Tamil Nadu | Ennore | India’s First corporatized port and 12th major port of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast about 24 km north of the Chennai Port. Trades: Iron Ore, Coal, petroleum products and chemicals |
3. | West Bengal | Haldia | Situated on Hugli river Formed to relieve pressure on Kolkata port |
4. | West Bengal | Kolkata Port | It is the only riverine major port in India. Known for twin dock systems viz. Kolkata Dock on the eastern bank and Haldia Dock on the western bank of river Hooghly Trade: Jute, tea, Coal, Steel |
5. | Gujarat | Kandla | Known as Tidal Port located in the Gulf of Kutch It was constructed after partition when Karachi Port was transferred to Pakistan. It also relieves the congestion of Mumbai Port Largest port by volume of cargo handled. It has been acknowledged as Trade Free Zone |
6. | Karnataka | Mangalore | It is deep water, all weathered port. Deals with the iron ore exports It is the only major port of the coastal state of Karnataka. |
7. | Goa | Marmagoa | Situated on the estuaries of the river Juari It is a natural harbour It was awarded the status of a major port in the year 1963. It is a leading iron ore exporting port in India. |
8. | Maharashtra | Mumbai | Largest Natural Port and harbor In India Earlier, this port location was used by the navies of Shivaji. This port has 3 enclosed wet docks: Prince’s Dock Victoria Dock Indira Dock The busiest Port in India Jawahar Dweep is an island in the harbor, for Crude and petroleum products handling. |
9. | Maharashtra | Jawaharlal Nehru Port or Nhava Sheva Port | Largest Artificial Port and also the largest container port of India. The name Nhava Sheva is given because of the names of two villages that existed in that area. It is located on the eastern shore of Mumbai harbor off Elephanta Island and can be accessed via Thane Creek. This port is the terminal point of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor of Indian Railways. Trade: Textiles, sporting goods, carpets, pharmaceuticals, chemicals etc. |
10. | Odisha | Paradip | First Major Port commissioned after Independence. Located at the confluence of Mahanadi river and Bay of Bengal. deals with the export of iron and aluminum and Iron ore is exported to Japan in huge quantity. |
11. | Tamil Nadu | Tuticorin | This port has been renamed as V.O.Chidambaranar Port. It is an artificial port located in the Gulf of Mannar. It is famous for pearl fishery in the Bay of Bengal and thus also known as the pearl city. Trade: coal, salt, petroleum products, and fertilizers |
12. | Andhra Pradesh | Vishakapatnam | This port is a natural harbor and also is the 2nd largest port by volume of cargo handled. Port is located midway between the Chennai Port and Kolkata Port. Trade: Iron Ore, Coal, Alumina and oil. |
13. | Tamil Nadu | Chennai | Chennai Port is the largest port on the East coast i.e. Bay of Bengal and the second largest port of India after JNPT. Artificial port. |
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