Question

What are the geographical constraints in tapping the inland water transportation potential in India?

Answer 1

Approach:

Introduction
Write about geographical constraints Conclude with some govt programmes

Answer:
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 and some poses challenges in developing inland waterways and they are as follows.

Geographical constraints:

• Seasonal nature of rivers: Most of the peninsular rivers are seasonal in nature i.e only during the rainy season they flow with full capacity and in summer water flow will be minimum which is not favourable for navigation.
• River regime change: the regimes of the Himalayan Rivers are both monsoonal and glacial. On the other hand, the regimes of the Peninsular Rivers are only monsoonal as they are influenced only by rainfall. There also exist the intra-peninsular differences in the river regimes. This is due to differences in the seasonal distribution of rainfall in various parts of the plateau.
• Siltation: Himalayan rivers are in the young stage which carries huge loads of sediments get deposited in the plains and it, in turn, reduces navigability. Examples Bhagirathi- Hooghly stretch.
• Meandering rivers: Meanders are the result of both erosional and depositional processes. They are typical of the middle and lower course of a Himalayan river.
• Presence of cataracts and waterfalls: these geographical formations poses problems in smooth navigation of cargo vessels as in Narmada and Tapi.
• Other constraints: it includes Inadequate air draft, Lack of terminals, Lack of modern navigation infrastructure.etc
• Government has taken up special programmes such as Jal Marg Vikas project (JMVP), River Information Services (RIS), etc to facilitate the inland waterway development.