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 Lifelines of National Economy
CBSE Class 10 Social Science Geography Chapter 7
teaches us about the crucial components of the national
economy. It says the economy of a country depends on
many things such as human resources, natural
resources, technology, and capital, etc. But the main
factor on which the economy of a country stands is the
infrastructure, transportation and communication- all
three in unison. It is the transportation network
constituting the railways, roadways, waterways and
airways that connects the different parts of our country
and helps it to grow. Hence, these are called the lifelines
of the Indian Economy. In this chapter, we will see how
these lifelines serve for our nation.
Before going directly to the lifelines, let us have a look
at what transportation is.
Transportation: Transportation is the movement of
goods and people from one place to another, over time.
These movements can be possible through the following
means of transport:-

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Transport
Roadways: A road is a particular way on land that
connects two places and where the forms of
conveyance are motor vehicles, cart, bicycle, horse, etc.
Advantages:
● Cheap to construct.
● Helpful in the transportation of a few people and a
smaller amount of goods for short and medium
distance.
● Roads can negotiate steep slopes, as they can
traverse mountains.

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 ● Provides perishable products like milk, fruits and
vegetables a quicker mode of transport than the
railways.
● They form the basis of all modes of transport i.e. for
reaching the station or airport, we need to take the
roadway.

Classification of Roadways:
Based on the importance and maintenance, Indian
roads can be divided into the following six ways-
i. Golden Quadrilateral: The National Highway
Development Project (NHDP) has launched a major
project known as 'Golden Quadrilateral Project'. This
project was implemented by the National Highways
Authority of India (NHAI). It comprises two components-
● Phase-I- It comprises connecting the megacities
Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai and Delhi by six-
lane Super Highways.
● Phase-II- i. The North-South Corridor- It comprises
the National Highways connecting Srinagar to
Kanyakumari.

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 ○ ii. The East-West Corridor- It comprises the
National Highways connecting Silchar (Assam)
to Porbandar (Gujarat).
ii. National Highways: The network of highways
constructed and maintained by the Central Public Works
Department( (CPWD) is called National Highways.
During ancient times, many rulers emphasised on
constructing roads to strengthen their empire. Sher
Shah Suri also constructed one such road which is
known as 'Sher Shah Suri Marg' or NH1. It connects Delhi
and Amritsar.
iii. State Highways: The highways connecting the state
capitals with different district headquarters and
maintained by the State Public Work Department are
called State Highways.
iv. District Roadways: The roads connecting the district
headquarters with other places of the districts are called
the District Highways. It is maintained by the Zila
Parishad.
v. Village or Rural Routes: The roads which connect
rural areas and villages with towns are known as Village
or Rural Routes. Under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen

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Sadak Yojana scheme, these roads have received special
provision so that every village in a country is linked to a
major town and can be honourable in every season.
vi. Border Roads: In the northern and north-eastern
border areas, few roads have been constructed and
maintained by the Border Roads Organisation which is
undertaken by the Government of India.
Roads can be classified into metallic (made by cement,
concrete and bitumen of coal and motorable in all
seasons) unmetalled roads (motorable only in the dry
season) also.

Railways:
The Indian Railway System is the lifeline of the country's
inland transport as it carries both passengers and goods
within a short time to long distance.
Advantages:
● It can carry heavy loads like coal and iron to distant
places.
● It promotes industrial growth which accelerates the
economic development of a country.

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Pipelines:
These are the new modes of transport which are used
for transportation of solid, liquid and gaseous products
such as crude oil, petroleum products natural gas etc to
refineries, factories and big thermal power plants.
There are three important pipeline transportation
networks in our country-
● The first one is from oil fields in upper Assam to
Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) via Guwahati, Barauni and
Allahabad.
● From Salaya in Gujarat to Jalandhar (Punjab) via
Viramgam, Mathura, Delhi and Sonipat.
● Gas pipeline starting from Gujarat’s Hazira extends
up to Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh via Vijaipur in
Madhya Pradesh.

Waterways:
These are the cheapest means of transport.
Advantages:
● These are the most suitable modes of transport to
carry heavy, bulky goods over a long distance.

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 ● These save fuel and are an eco-friendly mode of
transport.

Classification of Waterways:
This includes both inland as well as coastal waterways.
i. Inland Waterways: Inland waterways is a network in
the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks that
can be used for transportation of petroleum or minerals
within the country. The National Waterways declared by
the government are as follows:-
● Ganga flowing between Allahabad in U.P to Haldia
in West Bengal -N.W. No. 1
● The Brahmaputra river flows between Sadiya and
Dhubri -N.W. No. 2
● The West-Coast Canal in Kerala- N.W. No. 3
ii. Sea Ports: They facilitate domestic as well as foreign
trade and commerce.
Followings are the major seaports of India-
● Kandla- the first port built after independence. This
is a tidal port, originally constructed to ease the
load on Mumbai port.
● Mumbai-This is the biggest port.

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 ● Jawaharlal Nehru Port- It was also constructed to
release the congestion at Mumbai port. It serves as
a hub port for the region.
● Marmagao is the prime iron ore exporting port in
the country.
● Mangalore Port
● Kochi Port- It is the extreme southwestern port.
iii. Airways: These are the fastest modes of transport.
Advantages:
● Airways are free from physical barriers such as
mountains, desert areas, dense forest and long
oceanic stretches. It can easily cover these areas
within a short period.
● There is no such problem as traffic jams.

Classification of Airways:
i. Domestic- Indian airlines, Alliance Air, non-scheduled
operators provide domestic air services.
ii. International- Air India provides international air
services

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Communication: Communication is the process through
which information, the message can be transferred
verbally or nonverbally.
● Now, long-distance communication is not a
problem for us. We can easily contact someone
staying outside through cell phones, e-mail etc.
● Television, press, films etc are the major means of
personal and mass communication in a country.
● The postal network of India is the largest in the
whole world. We can send letters, handmade cards,
gifts to someone staying outside, through the post.
● Cards and envelopes are considered first-class mail
and book packets, periodicals and registered
newspapers are considered as the second-class
mail.
To deliver the mails quickly in large towns and cities, six
mail channels have been introduced. These are -
● Rajdhani Channel
● Metro Channel
● Green Channel
● Business Channel

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 ● Bulk mail channel
● Periodical Channel
The largest telecom network of Asia is found in India.
Most of the villages have already received the
Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) telephone facility.
Mass Communication provides entertainment as well as
it spreads awareness among people regarding various
matters. It includes television, radio, films, films,
newspapers etc.
India publishes a large number of newspapers and
periodicals which also play an important role in mass
communication.

International Trade
Exchange of goods among people, States and countries
are called trade. When trade takes place between the
two countries, it is called International Trade. It brings
economic prosperity to a country.

Tourism as a trade
Tourism also helps in the development of understanding
the international culture, heritage and people.

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Rajasthan, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir are the few
important destinations for the foreign tourists in India.

Important Questions and Answers:

Q1. What are the favourable conditions to construct
the railways? Which areas are not suitable for
railways?
Ans. The northern plains of India with its vast flat land is
the most suitable place for the construction of railways
because uneven topography such as the hilly region is
not suitable for it. Besides, high population density and
rich agricultural resources provide favourable
conditions for its growth.
Sandy plains of western Rajasthan, swamps of Gujarat,
flood plains, hilly terrain, forest areas of Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand are not suitable for the
construction of railways.

Q2. What are the three gauges of Indian railways?

Briefly explain.

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Ans. There are 3 gauges in the Indian railway. These are:
● Broad Gauge
● Metro Gauge
● Narrow Gauge - It has two types of broad rails.

Q3. Why are the means of transportation and

communication called the lifeline of a nation?
Ans. Transportation and communication are called the
lifelines of a nation because of the following reasons:
● The ultimate utilisation of natural resources
accelerates the economic development of a
country and it is possible with a good network of
transport.
● Transportation is the very basis of the industries
and trade of a country. It links the world.
● To communicate with a person who stays outside,
to send messages, to transfer information or
knowledge, communication plays an important
role. Without communication, a country will
become a dead land.
● Both transportation and communication link areas
of production with consumption, agriculture with

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 industries, villages with towns and cities, a country
with another country.

Q4. What is the reason behind the construction of the

Haldia Port?
Ans. Haldia is a new port developed on the banks of
Hooghly river to ease the congestion of Kolkata port.
Kolkata is an inland riverine port on Hooghly River. As it
is a tidal port, it suffers from the problem of silting due
to the frequent tides. It requires constant dredging of
Hooghly.

Q5: What are the differences between international

trade and local trade?
Ans. The important differences between international
and domestic/local trades are as follows:

International Trade Local Trade

i. When the trade takes i. Trade within villages,

place between the two towns, cities, States is
countries is called

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 international trade. called local trade.

ii. Exchange of ii. It is limited with the

international tokens are exchange of domestic
possible here. tokens

Q6: Name some important ports of the eastern coast

of India.
Ans. There are quite a few ports on the eastern coast of
India. These are:
● The extreme south-eastern coast of Tuticorin which
is located in Tamil Nadu has a natural harbour and
rich hinterland. That is why a large variety of
cargoes are transported to Sri Lanka from here.
● Chennai Port- it is one of the oldest artificial ports
of our country.
● Visakhapatnam Port- it is the deepest landlord and
well-protected port.
● Paradip Port
● Kolkata Port
● Haldia Port

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www.vedantu.com
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