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Indian Economic Policy



                  Notes                                 Table 7 : Growth of the Transport System

                                                                                   1950-51 1970-71 2005-06 2009-10
                                  1. Railways :   Route length (‘000 km)             53,600  59,800  63,300  64000
                                                  Freight Traffic originating          93     196    680     888
                                                  (million tonnes)
                                  2. Roads :      Total length (‘000 km)              400     915  2,713* 4,236**
                                                  Surfaced                            160     400  1,510* 2,090**
                                                  No. of goods vehicles (‘000)         82     343   4,782   NA
                                  3. Shipping :   Overseas shipping (million tonnes GRT)  0.2  2.2    7.0    9.7
                                     ports        traffic in m. tonnes                 19       –    424   562.7
                                  4. Civil Aviation : Number of passengers (lakhs)       –     26    318     569

                                 Source : Tenth Five Year Plan, 1997-2002, Vol. II. and Economic Survey, 2009-2010, Tables S-27 etc.
                                 Ministry of Shipping Annual Report 2009-10. N.A-Not Available
                                 * For the year 2003-04 ** For 2007-08
                                 (b)  Poor planning of transport system : In the formulation of transport plans, sufficient attention
                                      was not given to spatial and economic features which influence the pattern of transport demand
                                      in the country. For instance, population and economic activities tend to concentrate in major
                                      cities and towns. Massive volumes of traffic are concentrated in certain regions of the country
                                      and hence there is tremendous pressure on rail and road transport systems in the cities and
                                      certain regions. Alternative routes should be developed or there should be balanced development
                                      of regions.
                                      There is bound to be substantial build up of transport demand in the years to come. Such increase
                                      in transport demand cannot be met always by expansion in transport services. Careful transport
                                      planning should include greater dispersal of industries, balanced regional development,
                                      generation of thermal power, development of other sources of energy, etc.
                                      Another aspect of poor transport planning is that in the urban areas, lack of adequate mass
                                      transport, complete absence of demand management and policy distortions in the areas of fuel
                                      pricing and bank finance have resulted in an explosion of personalised transport comprising
                                      mainly of scooters and cars. This has contributed to high levels of pollution and alarming rates
                                      of accidents. On the other side, a large number of villages lack a reliable all-weather transport
                                      connection with nearby markets and towns.
                                      Yet another aspect of poor transport planning in India is that North East and Jammu & Kashmir
                                      have not been adequately linked with the rest of the country and as a result, they have remained
                                      physically and emotionally isolated.
                                      Finally, certain environment-friendly and socially cost effective means of transport like coastal
                                      shipping, inland water transport and non-mechanised transport have remained largely
                                      underdeveloped.
                                 (c)  Rail-road coordination : Rail and road transport are the dominant modes of transport in the
                                      country and they would continue to be so in the future too. However, the modal mix of transport
                                      has been continually shifting against the railways. For instance, in 1950-51, the road transport
                                      accounted for 11 per cent of the freight traffic and 26 per cent of the passenger traffic; but now, its
                                      share had increased to 60 and 80 per cent respectively. This continuing shift in favour of the road
                                      transport system is undesirable from economic as well as environment angles. A continuously
                                      mounting energy import bill is one of the direct consequences. The Seventh Plan argues in this
                                      connection : “Ideally, the Railways should have adequate capacity to clear all train and wagon
                                      load traffic for long and medium loads particularly for bulk commodities while the road transport
                                      would cater essentially for small lot, short haul traffic for which it is the more efficient mode.”



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