Transport and CommunicationClass 9 Geography Chapter 11 Notes – Maharashtra Board

Summary: Transport and Communication

Goods and people move by roadways, railways, waterways, airways and pipelines. While choosing a route and mode we consider distance, time, duration, cost, the product, the market, climate and physiography. Good choices save time and money and avoid damage to goods.

The price a customer pays includes production cost plus transport cost, so cheap and fast transport keeps prices low. Transport is basic infrastructure; better transport helps industries and markets grow and raises per capita income and GDP.

Landforms control transport routes. In Satara district the hilly Sahyadri west has few routes, the low-lying central belt — with a National Highway and railway — has a dense network, and the east has a medium network. Plains favour transport; high relief limits it.

Transport extends trade, speeds up industrialisation, creates jobs, connects regions, removes shortages, reduces regional imbalance and helps tourism. RoRo service carries loaded trucks on trains to save fuel, cost and pollution; a Green Corridor clears roads to rush donated organs.

Communication is also basic infrastructure: post, newspapers, TV, telephones, mobiles, satellites and the internet. Apps allow online payments and shopping, and video calls connect many people, but cyber crimes such as hacking, fraud and ransomware make careful, safe use essential.

Key points to remember

• Five transport routes: roadways, railways, waterways, airways, pipelines
• Factors in choosing transport: distance, time, duration, cost, product, market, climate, physiography
• Selling price = production cost + transport cost
• Transport development is an indicator of a region's development; it raises PCI and GDP
• Plains → dense transport network; hills and high relief → sparse network
• Satara: sparse in the hilly west (Sahyadris, Koyna's Shivsagar reservoir), dense in the centre (NH and railway), medium in the east
• Importance: trade, industry, jobs, regional connectivity, removing scarcity, reducing regional imbalance, tourism
• RoRo (Roll-on Roll-off): loaded trucks travel on goods trains; first used in India on the Konkan Railway
• Green Corridor: traffic is cleared so a donated organ reaches the patient fast
• Satellites help mobile calls, TV, weather updates and remote sensing for resource study and planning
• Apps such as BHIM help with online payments, bills and money transfer
• Cyber crimes: hacking, online fraud, data theft, ransomware — never share personal details carelessly

Transport and Communication – Notes

1. Means and routes of transport

• Roadways: rickshaws carry passengers; trucks carry freight. Railways: the metro carries city passengers; goods trains carry freight. Airways: aeroplanes and helicopters carry passengers and urgent goods.
• Waterways: ships and boats carry bulky freight cheaply; submarines move under water, mainly for defence. Pack animals such as mules carry loads on hilly paths. Pipelines carry oil, gas and water.
• Choosing in real situations: an emergency trip from Nagpur to Bhopal → the fastest option (flight, or a fast train or car on the highway). A cleanliness message carried to Kanyakumari with no time limit → walking or cycling by road, meeting people on the way. Alphonso mangoes from Konkan to Arab countries → by air (perishable) or refrigerated containers by sea.
• Indrayani rice from Pune to Cape Town at low cost → rail or road to a port such as JNPT (Mumbai), then by ship. Nandurbar vegetables → by road on the Nagpur–Surat highway or by the Surat–Bhusawal railway to markets like Surat, Mumbai or Nagpur. Singapore from your town in ten days → train or bus to a city, then by air or sea.
• Factors to weigh: distance, duration, time available, cost, type of product (perishable or not), market, climate and physiography. Weighing them saves time and money, makes travel comfortable and delivers goods safely.

2. Transport and development

• The customer's price is not only the production cost; transport cost is added. Freight should move quickly and safely, and cheap transport keeps the price low.
• Transport is basic infrastructure. How well it is developed shows how developed a country or region is.
• Better transport increases the movement of freight and passengers; industries and markets grow; the economy speeds up, and both GDP (gross domestic product) and PCI (income per person) go up.
• Importance of transport: extends trade and networks; speeds up industrialisation; creates jobs; connects regions; makes a site useful; overcomes shortages by moving surplus goods; reduces imbalance between regions; develops tourism.
• RoRo (Roll-on Roll-off): trucks are cheaper to run for short trips but costlier than rail over long distances. In RoRo, loaded trucks ride on goods trains to a chosen station and then drive on to their destination. This cuts fuel use, cost and pollution. India first used it on the Konkan Railway.
• Green Corridor: when a person who has died has donated organs, the route from donor to receiver is cleared of all traffic so the organ arrives quickly and saves a life.

3. Physiography and transport: Satara district

• On a map, transport routes form dense networks in some places, sparse ones in others, and none at all in some areas. Reading the physical map along with the transport map explains why.
• Fig. 11.1 (landforms): the west of Satara district is high, rugged land of the Sahyadris and their branches (Mahabaleshwar, Bamnoli and other ranges), with the large Shivsagar reservoir of the Koyna dam. The centre and east are lower and moderate in height, with rivers such as the Krishna and Nira.
• Fig. 11.2 (roads and railways): the west has only a few roads; the central belt from Khandala–Wai through Satara to Karad has a dense network, with a National Highway and the railway running north–south and many roads joining them; the east (Phaltan, Dahiwadi, Vaduj) has a medium network.
• So hills, valleys and rivers shape transport. Studying the landforms tells us how accessible or remote a place is. Plains suit transport; high relief limits it.
• Obstacles where routes are missing: steep slopes and ghats, dense forests, large reservoirs and rivers.

4. Means of communication

• Communication — exchange of information — is basic infrastructure, just like transport.
• Conventional means: post (letters, money orders, speed post; the GPO in Mumbai is a famous example), newspapers, radio, telephone. Modern means: mobile phones, TV via satellite, e-mail, internet, social media, video calls and video-conferencing.
• Artificial satellites make mobile calls, TV broadcasting and weather updates possible at the same time across huge areas. Remote-sensing images from satellites help study the Earth's resources and plan regions.
• The Government of India encourages online trading, payments and money transfer. Mobile apps such as BHIM and SBI Anywhere let us pay bills, buy and sell.
• Mobiles now allow not just calls and messages but video calls; video-conferencing lets many people talk together at once.

5. Dangers on the internet

• The internet also brings threats: hacking of websites and e-mails, online fraud, theft of information and money, attacks on important websites, and even cyber war and terrorism between countries (Fig. 11.6 shows cyber attacks happening around the world).
• The book shows a ransomware screen ('Wana Decrypt0r 2.0', the WannaCry attack of May 2017). It says the user's files have been encrypted and demands $300 worth of bitcoin; the price doubles after 15 May 2017, and files are lost forever after 19 May 2017. The crime is extortion through ransomware — a type of cyber crime.
• Stay safe: do not share personal or sensitive information on social networking sites or blogs; use strong passwords; do not open unknown links or attachments; keep back-ups and updated software.
• Always check whether a site or app is safe before revealing any information.

Transport and communication at a glance

Key terms

Transport and Communication – Flashcards

Read the question, answer it in your head, then tap the card to check. 20 cards.

Transport and Communication – MCQ Quiz

15 questions. Tap an option — you will see at once if it is right and why.

How to study Transport and Communication

⏱ About 35 minutes

1. Transport basics (10 min)
   Learn the five routes and the factors for choosing them; solve the price example.
2. Maps and ideas (15 min)
   Study the Satara maps, RoRo, Green Corridor, satellites, apps and cyber safety.
3. Practise (10 min)
   Answer the 'Try it yourself' questions, take the quiz and play 🎮 Play.