HISTORY OF TRAVELLING BY WATER IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION
Humans have always lived near water. We use it to drink, cook, bathe in, water crops, and for travel. Long ago people realized that they could travel faster and more easily on the rivers and over the sea than on land. On barges and ships, people could carry much more than they could with wagons and animals. With sails, boats could use the power of the wind to move, instead of rowing.

WATER TRAVEL IN INDIA

Western scholars have underestimated India's achievement with regard to commerce, shipbuilding and navigation, and sea travel. These scholars believed in the Doctrine of Christian Discovery - According to which only Christians could be regarded as discoverers. Hence, the claim that Columbus discovered America or that Vasco da Gama discovered India). The people already living on the land did not matter. India, situated at the central point of the ocean that washes on its coast on three sides, seemed destined very early for a maritime future. In the Rig Veda, a passage represents Varuna having a full knowledge of the sea routes, and another speaks of merchants going everywhere and frequenting every part of the sea for gain. The Ramayana refers to the Yavan Dvipa and Suvarna Dvipa (Java and Sumatra) and to the Lohta Sayara or the Red Sea. The drama Sakuntala, Ratnavali of King Harsha, Sisupalvadha of Magha, relates stories of sea voyages of merchants and others, and the fabulous literature of India is replete with stories of sea voyages by Hindus. Historian R. C. Majumdar states: "The representation of ship on a seal indicates maritime activity, and there is enough evidence to show that the peoples of the Sindhu valley carried on trade not only with other parts of India but also with Sumer and the centers of culture in Western Asia, and with Egypt and Crete." There was a time in the past, when Indians were the masters of the sea borne trade of Europe, Asia and Africa. They built ships, navigated the sea, and held in their hands all the threads of international commerce, whether carried on overland or sea.

Indian traders would set sail from the port of Mahabalipuram, carrying with them cinnamon, pepper and their civilization to the shores of Java, Cambodia and Bali. Like the Western world, the Indian world stretches far beyond its border, though India has never used any violence to spread her influence. Noted historian, R. C. Majumdar observed: "The Indian colonies in the Far East must ever remain as the high watermark of maritime and colonial enterprise of the ancient Indians." It has been proved beyond doubt that the Indians of the past were not, stay-at-home people, but went out of their country for exploration, trade and conquest. Buddhist Jataka stories wrote about large Indian ships carrying seven hundred people. In the Artha Sastra, Kautilya wrote about the Board of Shipping and the Commissioner of Port who supervised sea traffic.

PRESENT OF WATER TRAVEL IN INDIA:

Today Maritime transportation in India is managed by the Shipping Corporation of India, a government-owned company that also manages offshore and other marine transport infrastructure in the country. It owns and operates about 35% of Indian tonnage and operates in practically all areas of shipping business servicing both national and international trades. It has a fleet of 79 ships and also manages 53 research, survey and support on behalf of various government departments and other organizations. Personnel are trained at the Maritime Training Institute in Mumbai, a branch of the World Maritime University, which was set up in 1987. The Corporation also operates in Malta and Iran through joint ventures.

PORTS:
The ports are the main centres of trade. In India about 95% of the foreign trade by quantity and 70% by value takes place through the ports. Mumbai Port & JNPT(Navi Mumbai) handles 70% of maritime trade in India. There are twelve major ports: Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Kolkata (including Haldia), Paradip, Vishakapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Kochi, New Mangalore, Mormugao and Kandla. Other than these, there are 187 minor and intermediate ports, 43 of which handle cargo.

WATER WAYS:
India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length is 14,500 kilometers (9,000 mi), out of which about 5,200 km (3,231 mi) of river and 485 km (301 mi) of canals can be used by mechanised crafts. Freight transport by waterways is highly underutilized in India compared to other large countries. Cargo transport in an organized manner is confined to a few waterways in Goa, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration and regulation.

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