Roadways - Concepts - Chapter 7 Class 10 Geography - Lifelines of National Economy - Geography

Last updated at Dec. 13, 2024 by

ROADWAYS

 

IMPORTANCE OF ROAD TRANSPORT 

  • India has the second largest road network in the world aggregating about 62.16 lakh km.
  • Roadways are becoming more important in India than railways because:
    • The construction cost of roads is much cheaper than the construction of railway lines.
    • Roads can traverse comparatively more dissected and undulating topography .
    • Roads can negotiate higher grades of slopes and can traverse mountains such as the Himalayas,
    • Road transport is affordable in the transportation of few passengers and a relatively smaller amount of products over short distances .
    • Provides door-to-door services.
    • Road transport is also used as a feeder to other modes of transport such as they provide a link between railway stations, air, and sea ports.

ACCORDING TO THEIR CAPACITY 

  • In India roads are categorized into six classes according to their capacity.

S.N

Classification of Roads 

Description

1.

Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways 

  • The government has initiated a major road Development project that would c onnect Delhi with Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai via six-lane Super Highways. 
  • This project includes the North-South corridors connecting Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), as well as the East-West Corridor connecting Silchar (Assam) and Porbander (Gujarat). 
  • The primary goal of these Super Highways is to shorten the time and distance between India's megacities
  • These highway projects are being implemented by the National Highway Authority of  India (NHAI)

2.

National Highways

  • National highways connect the country's most remote areas.
  • These are the primary road systems that are laid and maintained by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). 
  • The historical Sher-Shah Suri Marg is called National Highway No.1, between Delhi and Amritsar

3. 

State Highways

  • State Highways are roads that connect a state capital to various district headquarters.
  • The State Public Works Department (PWD) builds and maintains these highways in states and union territories

4.

District Roads:

  • These roads connect the district headquarters with the other places in the districts.
  • The Zila Parishad is in charge of maintaining these roads.

5.

Other Roads

  • This category includes rural roads that connect rural areas and v illages to towns
  • These roads received special impetus under the Pradhan Mantri

Grameen Sadak Yojana.

  • Under this scheme special provision s are made to ensure that every village in the country is connected to a large town by an all-season motorable road.

6.

Border Roads

  • Border Roads Organisation is a Government of India undertaking that constructs and maintains roads along the country's borders .
  • This organization was established in 1960 to develop roads of strategic importance in the northern and northeastern border areas. 
  • These roads have increased accessibility in rough terrain locations and have contributed to the economic growth of these areas.
  • Border Road Organisation has built the World’s longest Highway tunnel-Atal Tunnel (9.02 Km).

 

  • Roads are classified into two categories according to the type of materials used for their construction 
    •   Metalled Roads :  Metalled roads can be made of cement, concrete, or even coal bitumen.
    • Unmetalled roads : unmetalled roads are mainly built of mud and are natural pathways.
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Davneet Singh has done his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has been teaching from the past 14 years. He provides courses for Maths, Science and Computer Science at Teachoo