Which one of the following is the only riverine major port in India?

Q: What is the answer to CAPF 2021 Paper I Q101?

C. Correct — C, Kolkata. Kolkata is the only riverine major port in India. It sits roughly 200 kilometres up the Hooghly from the Bay of Bengal, which is what gives it its reach into the eastern hinterland and also its permanent problem — the channel silts, so the approach has to be dredged continuously and the Farakka barrage was built in part to push more Ganga water down the Hooghly and keep it navigable. Because large modern vessels cannot come that far upstream, the port works as a twin system, with the Haldia Dock Complex nearer the sea handling the deeper-draught traffic. (Provisional — pending the official UPSC key.)

(a)Mormugao
(b)Deendayal
(c)Kolkata
(d)Paradip

Answer

Why

Correct — C, Kolkata. Kolkata is the only riverine major port in India. It sits roughly 200 kilometres up the Hooghly from the Bay of Bengal, which is what gives it its reach into the eastern hinterland and also its permanent problem — the channel silts, so the approach has to be dredged continuously and the Farakka barrage was built in part to push more Ganga water down the Hooghly and keep it navigable. Because large modern vessels cannot come that far upstream, the port works as a twin system, with the Haldia Dock Complex nearer the sea handling the deeper-draught traffic.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Mormugao — A natural harbour on the Goa coast at the mouth of the Zuari, developed chiefly for iron-ore exports. It sits at the sea, not far up a river.
(b)Deendayal — The former Kandla, in the Gulf of Kachchh — a tidal port on a creek of the gulf, serving Gujarat, Rajasthan and the northern plains. Its constraint is the tide, not a river channel.
(d)Paradip — An artificial deep-water harbour on the Odisha coast near the Mahanadi delta, built to move Odisha's iron ore. The deep water is exactly what a riverine port lacks.

Concept

Ports are classified by where they sit as much as by what they handle. A riverine port lies on a river channel some way inland, which shortens the land haul to its hinterland but limits the draught of ships that can reach it and demands constant dredging. A coastal or deep-water port has the opposite profile — deeper water, longer land carriage. Kolkata is the one major Indian port in the first category, which is why it turns up in this question in almost every exam that asks about ports.

Two of the wrong options are ore ports and one is a tidal port, so a candidate who knows what each is used for can eliminate quickly. The word riverine is the whole question. It is worth separating from another label often applied to Kolkata — it is also a tidal port in the sense that ships must move with the tide up the Hooghly, but the classification asked for here is the one about its position on a river.

Key facts

Kolkata lies about 200 km up the Hooghly and is India's only riverine major port.
It works as a twin system — the Kolkata Dock System upstream and the Haldia Dock Complex nearer the sea.
The Farakka barrage, commissioned in 1975, diverts Ganga water into the Hooghly partly to reduce silting on the approach.
India had twelve major ports at the time of this exam, administered by the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, with minor ports under State maritime boards.
The port was renamed Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in January 2020, and a thirteenth major port is being developed at Vadhavan in Maharashtra.

The full cantilever span of the Howrah Bridge across the Hooghly at Kolkata, with launches on the water and a moored river vessel at the near bank — The Howrah Bridge over the Hooghly at Kolkata — the river on which India's only riverine major port stands.Image: Pinakpani · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Study next

The twelve major ports of India and the cargo each specialises inMajor ports against minor ports, and who administers whichThe Farakka barrage and the Hooghly siltation problemSagarmala and port-led developmentInland waterways — National Waterway 1 on the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly

Common traps

Choosing Deendayal because Kandla is often described as a tidal port and tidal sounds like riverine.
Assuming a port near a delta, such as Paradip, must be a river port.

A single-word discrimination — riverine — with three coastal ports offered around it.

Related PYQs

CAPF_GAI_2022_Q1172022Open & attempt →

Consider the following statements about the seaports in India: 1. There are 4 major and 25 minor seaports in India. 2. The major ports are under the administrative control of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. 3. The minor ports are under the jurisdiction of respective State Maritime Board/State Government. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 2 only
(d) 2 and 3 only

Answer(d) 2 and 3 only

The administrative half of the same subject. That item turns on how many major ports there are and who runs them, which is the frame within which Kolkata is counted as one of the major ports here.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The Haldia Dock Complex was developed to serve which port?
- (a)Paradip
- (b)Kolkata
- (c)Visakhapatnam
- (d)Chennai
Answer(b) Kolkata — Haldia takes the deeper-draught traffic that cannot travel far up the Hooghly.
practice — not a real PYQ
Deendayal Port, formerly Kandla, is located in which gulf?
- (a)Gulf of Khambhat
- (b)Gulf of Mannar
- (c)Gulf of Kachchh
- (d)Gulf of Martaban
Answer(c) Gulf of Kachchh — it serves Gujarat, Rajasthan and the northern plains.