Between 1880 and 1920, forest cover in the Indian subcontinent declined by 9.7 million hectares, from 108.6 million hectares to 98.9 million hectares. Discuss the role of the following factors in the decline: (i) Railways (ii) Shipbuilding (iii) Agricultural expansion (iv) Commercial farming (v) Tea/coffee plantations (vi) Adivasis and other peasant users.

(i) Railways : The spread of railways from the 1850s created a new demand. Railways were essential for colonial trade and for the movement of imperial troops. To run locomotives wood was needed as fuel, and to lay railway lines, sleepers were essential to hold the tracks together. Each mile of railway track required between 1,700 and 2,000 sleepers.
From the 1860s, the railway network expanded rapidly. By 1890, about 25,500 km of track had been laid. As the railway tracks spread through Indian a larger and larger number of trees were felled’ The government gave out contracts to individuals to supply the required quantities’ These contractors began cutting trees indiscriminately. Forests around the railway fast started tracks disappearing.
(ii) Shipbuilding : By the early nineteenth century, oak forests in England were disappearing. This created a problem of timber supply for the Royal Navy. So to build English ships and to protect and maintain the imperial power the supply of timber was essential. Search parties were sent to explore the forest resources of India. As a result of it, trees were falled on a massive scale and vast quantities of timber were being exported from India.
(iii) Agricultural expansion : As the population increased and the demand for food went up, peasants extended the boundaries of cultivation, clearing forests and breaking new land. For example, in 1600 approximately one-sixth of India’s land mass was under cultivation. It increased to about one-half during the colonial period.
(iv) Commercial farming: The British directly encouraged the production of commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat and cotton. The demand for these crops increased in the nineteenth century Europe where food grains were needed to feed the growing urban population and raw materials were required for industrial production. The forests were brought under cultivation so that the land could yield agricultural products and revenue, and enhance the income of the state. So between 1880 and 1920, cultivated area rose by 6.7 million hectares.
(v) Tea coffee plantations : Large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations to meet Europe’s growing need for these commodities. The colonial government took over the forests, and gave vast areas to European planters at cheap rates’ These areas were enclosed and cleared of forests, and planted with tea or coffee.
(vi) Adivasi’s and other peasant users : Adivasi’s and other peasant users used forest products -roots, leaves’ fruits and tubers – for many things. For example, fruits and tubers to eat, herbs for medicine and wood for agricultural implements. These activities of the Adivasi’s and other peasant users proved responsible for the decline in the forest cover.