Write a note on the major seaports of the world?
Answers
India’s coast-line and various seaport located alongside form an important topic for the UPSC CSE preparation. This blog post covers all important points about it.
India’s Coast-line
– – India has 18th longest total coastal length among all world countries.
– The Indian coast-line stretches over 7516.6 kilometers of land and thus, makes India one of the biggest peninsulas of the world.
– The coastal length of mainland India (except Andaman & Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep islands) is 5422.6 Km. The coastal length of all islands taken together is 2094 Km.
– It runs over 9 states and 4 union territories and is bound by the Arabian Sea on the west and Bay of Bengal in the east.
– The western coastal states are: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
– The eastern coastal states are: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal.
– The 4 union territories lying on the coast-line are: Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Lakshwadweep Islands and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
MAJOR SEA PORTS IN INDIA
1. GUJARAT
Important ports of Gujarat are – Alang, Kandla, Mandavi, Okha, Porbandar, Veraval, Jafarabad, Pipavav, Bhavnagar, Dahej, Magadalla, Hazira, Mandvi (Surat), Mundra and Maroli.
Major port: Kandla
The Kandla port was formed with the intention to decongest the Mumbai port.
It is located in the Gulf of Kutch and is the largest port of India, when measured by the volume of cargo handled.
Intermediate ports: Okha, Porbandar, Pipavav and Bhavnagar.
2. ANDHRA PRADESH
Important ports of Andhra Pradesh are — Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Machlipatnam
3. TAMIL NADU
Important sea ports of Tamil Nadu are – Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin.
The second largest port in India, Chennai Port (or Madras Port) primarily handles fertilisers, general cargo, iron-ore and petroleum products.
It is one of the oldest ports of India.
Located at the north of Chennai, Ennore port was established to reduce congestion on Chennai Port. It is also India’s first corporate port.
Tuticorin Port is officially known as VO Chidambaranar Port and is an artificial deep sea harbor.
The port handles the trade of coal, food grains, salt, sugar, petroleum products and edible oils and carries out major trade with the neighbouring country of Sri Lanka.
Kanyakumari, which is the southern most tip of the Indian mailand is located here.
4. MAHARASHTRA
Important ports in Maharashtra are – Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai Port , Dharamtar, Mora, Redi, Jaitapur, and Rewas.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the largest container port in India. It was formerly known as Nhava Sheva port.
Mumbai Port handles one-fifth of India’s foreign trade with predominance in dry cargo and mineral oil from the Gulf countries.
5. KERALA
The important ports of Kerala are — Cochin, Kanhangad, Kollam, Kottayam, Kalichanadukkam, Vizhinjam international sea port.
Export of tea and coffee and import of chemical fertilisers and mineral oil are handled by the port.
6. ORISSA
Most important port – Paradip which is an artificial deep water port.
Coal, iron-ore and other dry cargoes are handled at the port. It has a cold handling plant, a railway system and a national highway that connects it to the road networks of the rest of the country.
Other smaller ports – Astaranga, Kirtania and Dhamra.
7. KARNATAKA
The important ports of Karnataka are – New Mangalore, Belekeri, Tadri, Honnavar, Bhatkal, Kundapura, Hangarakatta, Malpe and Padubidri.
The new Mangalore port exports commodities such as granite stones, cashew, manganese and coffee and imports products like LPG, timber, cargo container and others.
Panambur is the site of sea port called New Mangalore Port.
8. GOA
Marmagao is the major port of Goa.
Mormagao Port is the leading iron ore exporting port of India with an annual throughput of around 27.33 million tonnes of iron ore traffic.
9. WEST BENGAL
The Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers form the Sundarban Delta near the Bay of Bengal.
Haldia is one of the most important ports of the state.
It is located in the Hooghly River and it is the most important centre of jute industries.
It is also known as the ‘Gateway of Eastern India’.
Major Sea-ports of India
A port is a location on a coast or a shore that contains one or more harbours where ships can dock. The locations of the ports are selected to optimise access to land and navigable water that can be used for commercial purposes and provide shelter from waves and winds.