(a) (1) Railways: The spread of railways from 1850s created a new demand. Railways were essential for successful colonial control, administration, trade and movement of troops. Thus to run locomotives,
(a) wood was needed as fuel
(b) and to lay railway lines as sleepers were essential to hold tracks together. As the railway tracks spread throughout India, larger and larger number of trees was felled. Forests around the railway tracks started disappearing fast.
(2) Shipbuilding: UK had the largest colonial empire in the world. Shortage of oak forests created a great timber problem for the shipbuilding of England. For the Royal Navy, large wooden boats, ships, courtyards for shipping, etc., trees from Indian forests were being felled on massive scale from the 1820s or 1830s to export large quantities of timber from India. Thus the forest cover of the subcontinent declined rapidly.
(b) Commercial Farming: Large areas of natural forest were also cleared to make space for the plantations or commercial farming. Jute, rubber, indigo, tobacco etc. were the commercial crops that were planted to meet Britain’s growing need for these commodities. The British colonial government took over the forests and gave of a vast area and exported it to Europe. Large areas of forests were cleared on the hilly slopes to plant tea or coffee.
This also contributed to the decline of the forest cover in India.
