Indian Geography

Forest of India : Types of Forests

Dry Forests :

These forest are found in areas where the annual rainfall is less than 100 cm.

They are common in Rajasthan,Haryana,Kutch and dry aareas of interior Deccan.

Deciduous Forests

These trees shed their leaves once a year in hot weather.

They occur in areas where the rainfall is between 100 and 200 cm.

They are mostly found along the Himalayan foothills and on the north eastern hilly areas of Deccan Plateau and the eastern slopes of western Ghats.

Their characteristic trees are sal teak,sandaswood ,rosewood and shisham.

Coniferous Forests :

These forests are found in areas of very heavy rainfall i.e over 200cm.

They are found mostly in West Bengal.Western coastal Plains the North East hills and on the Western slopes of Western Ghats.

Mountain Forests :

These forests are found on the slopes of the Himalayas but they differ in kind with increasing height because climate goes on getting colder.

Tidal Forests :

These are found in the deltas of rivers which are subject to tides.

These forests yield tanning material and firewood.

Their wood is also used for making boats and boxes.

General Characteristics

The forests in India cover about 19.27 per cent of the total geographical area of India.

It is considerd that a tropical country like India should have at least 33 per cent of its area under forests to preserve proper climatic condition.

Indian Agriculture

India is primarily an agricultural country and this sector of the economy accounts for nearly 23 per cent of our national income.Types of cultivation :

Sedentary cultivation

This is also known as settled cultivation.

It is the practice of continued use of land year after year.

Shifting Cultivation

In this practice land is cleared of Forests and is used for a few years until the fertility of the soil decreases or the fields are taken over the weeds etc.

Terrace Cultivation

Under this system the mountain slopes are cut to form terraces and the land is used in the same manner a in secondery cultivation.

Dry cultivation

This practice is followed in areas where facilities for irrigation are lacking .Crops grown in these area can withstand dry conditions.Sometimes , the crops grown normally with irrigation are also grown under dry farming.

Intensive cultivation

This is the system under which small farms are used intensively with large inputs of manual labour manures,fertilisers etc.

Extensive Cultivation

This type of farming is highly capital intensive and is practised in sparsely populated areas.

Mixed and Multiple Farming

The practice of growing more than one crop on the same land one after the other is called multiple farming or multiple croping.

Crop Rotation

When a number of crops are grown one after the other in a fixed rotation to maintain the fertility of the soil ,it is called crop rotation.The rotation of crops may complete in a year in some of the areas while it may involve more than one year's time in others.

Fertility,Productivity and agricultural Efficiency

Fertility can be defined as the inherent capacity of land or soil to sustain plant growth.It is thus mainly a function of the nutrient content of thr soil.

Productivity is a measure of actual production of crops per unit of area .Productivity is measured in some standerd terms or Units.

Kharif Crops

This crops are sown at the beginning of the South West monsoon season (May-July) and harvested at the end of this season9September-November).

Major crops grown in this season includes rice,lowar,bajra,maize,groundnut and jute.

Rabi Crops

Sown at the beginning of the cold season(October-December)and harvested at the beginning of the worm season(February to April) ,these includes wheat,gram,barley,and potato.

Zald Crops :

These crops are sown at the beginning of the season in February-March and August-September and are harvested in April-May and December-January.Summer vegetables,oil seeds and fodder crops like jowar are important among these crops.

River System and Multipurpose River Valley project

River System

North India : Ganga,Yamuna,Ghagra,Gandak,Kosi,Sone,ChambalSutlej,Beas,Ravi and Brahmaputra

South India : Mahanadi,Godavari,Karishna,and Cauvery flow into the Bay of Bengal;Narmada and Tapti flow into the Arabian Sea.

Mahanadi Originates from Rajkamal Mountain of Madhya Pradesh.

Narmada originates from Amarkantak of Madhya Pradesh.It flows betwdeen Vindhyas and Satpura.

Tapti also originats from Amarkantak mountains of Madhya Pradesh.

Irrigation

In India about 40 per cent of the total land area is under irrigation.Principal kind of irrigation works in India are :

Canals : Punjab,Haryana,UP,Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh,Gujrat and Maharastra.

Wells : UP ,Punjab< and Haryana.

Tanks : Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Tube Wells : UP ,PUnjab ,Haryana and Tamil Nadu.

Multipurpose River Valley Projects in India

Multipurpose projects are those which have got more than one object in view such as :

Irrigation

Flood control

Generation of Hydro-electric power.

Supply of drinking water

Navigation

Development of recreational spots.

Development of Fisheries

Bakra Nangal Project : Punjab Haryana and Rajasthan.

Bansagar Project : UP and Madhya Pradesh

Hirakund Project : Orissa

Tungabhadra Project : Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka

Farakka Dam : West Bengal

Nagarjuna Project : Andhra Pradesh

Poochampad Project : Andhra Pradesh

Gandak Project : Bihar,UP, and Nepal

Kosi Project : Bihar

Ukai Multipurpose Project : Gujrat.

Mahi Project ; Gujrat.

Upper Krishna project : Karnataka

Ghataprabha Valley Project : Karnataka.

Malaprabha Project : Karnataka.

Tawa Project : Madhya Pradesh.

Chambal Project : MP and Rajasthan.

Bhima Project : Maharastra

Jayakwadi Project : Maharastra.

Thgein project : Punjab.

Indira Gandhi Canal : Rajasthan

Sarda Sahayak Project : UP.

Ramganga Project : Uttarakhand.

Kangsabati Project : West Bengal.

Mayurakhsi Project : West Bengal.

Damodar Valley Project : West Bengal and Jharkhand.

Sardar SArovar Project : Gujrat,Maharastra,Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Tehri Dam Project : Uttarakhand.

Salai Project : Jammu and Kashmir.

Rihand Project : UP.

Lower Sileru Project : AP

Saravati Project : Kerala

Sabarigiri Project : Kerala

Idukki Project : Kerala

Koyna Project : Maharastra

Kundha Project : Tamil Nadu

Mahanadi Project : Orissa

Metatilla project : UP

Transport and Communication

Transport : The four major means of Transport are the railways,the roadways ,the waterways and the airways.

Railways

Railways are the largest public sector undertaking in the country.

They are the most important means of transport .They carry about 75 per cent of the passenger traffic and 80 per cent of the freight traffic.

Railway in India had a beginning in 1853.The first train was started between Mumbai and Thane and the total initial route length was 34 km.

The total route length of the Indian Railways is currently 65000 km.

Four operational ease ,the Indian Railways are divided into 17 zones.The zones and their headquarters are :

Sl.No.	Zones	Headquarters
1.	Central	Munabi,CST
2.	Eastern	Kolkata
3.	Northern	New Delhi
4.	North Eastern	Maligaon
5.	North East Frontier	Guwahati
6.	Southern	Chennai
7	South Central	Secunderabad
8.	South Eastern	Kolkata
9.	Western	Churchgate,Mumbai
10.	East Central Railway	Hajipur
11.	East Coast Railway	Bhubaneswar
12.	North Central Railway	Allahabad
13.	North western Railway	Jaipur
14.	South East Central Railway	Bilaspur
15.	South Western Railway	Hubi
16.	West Central Railway	Jabalpur
17.	Metro Railway	Kolkata

Indian Railways is the fourth largest network in the world.

The Railway in India operate in three gauges.They are broad gauge(1,676 m)Meter gauge(One Meter) and narrow gauge(0.672 m)

Locomotives are manufactured in Locomotive Works (CLW) at Chittaranjan,Diesel Locomotive works (DLW) at Varanasi and the public sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited at Bhopal.

Passenger Coaches are manufactured in Integral Coach Factory(ICF) at Perembur in Chennai and Rail Coach Factory (RCF) at Kapurthala in Punjab.

Coaches and electrical multiple unit are also manufactured by Jessops at Kolkata and Bharat Earth Movers limited at Bangalore,which are public sector companies.

Konkan Railway

It is a 760 km long biggest railway project in South Asia

It connects Maharastra,Goa, Karnataka and Kerala on the west coast and Passes through Maharastra,Goa and Karnataka.

It was completed in 1998 in eight years at a cost of Rs.3,500 crore.

Its northern terminal is Ratnagiri (Maharastra) while the southern terminal is Mangalore(Karnataka).

Roads

India has one of the largest road networks in the worlds.

At present the country's total road length is 4.1 million km.

The present length of the national highways in India is approx.70,548 km.They constitute only 2% of the total road length and carries nearly 40% of the road traffic.

The Golden Quardrillteral Project connecting the four Metropolitan cities of Delhi,Mumbai,Chennai and Kolkata covering a total distance of 5852 km is currently being processed.Also in consideration are North-South and East-West corridors(7,300 km) ,connecting Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Silchar to Saurastra.

Shipping

In India there are 13 major ports and 200 other ports.

The major ports situated on thr west coast are Kandla(Gujrat),Mumbai,Jawaharlal Nehru(Nhava Sheva)(Maharastra) Marmagao,(Goa),New Mangalore(Karnataka)and cochin(Kerala).

The major ports on the eastern coast are Kolkata,New Haldia(West Bengal) Paradip(Orissa),Vishakhapatnam(AP),Chennai,Ennore and Tuticorin(Tamil Nadu).

The central inland water Transport Corporation operates service for carrying goods between Kolkata and Assam via Bangladesh.

Air Transport

The organised air transport service was started in 1932.Tata Airways Limited Introduced air service between Karachi and Lahore(Both place now in Pakistan)

International Airports are managed by the International Airport Authority of India(IAAI) which was set up in 1972.

The Authority is responsible for the management of airports including 23 civil enclaves at defence airfields.

35 Non metro airports are being developed in India.