Five causes of deforestation in India during the British rule were:
a. The British considered forests as wildernesses which must be brought under cultivation to enhance the income of the state. Thus, large tracts of forest lands were cleared for cultivating land.
b. Due to high demand, forests in Britain were dissapearing. This created a problem for British Royal navy as wood as required to build ships. The British started exploring Indian forests on a massive scale.
c. Forests were destroyed to supply sleepers for railways and to further expand areas under railways.
d. The colonial government thought forests as unproductive and hence cleared them for building dams and laying down cities.
e. Cash crops were expected to bring huge revenues. So large areas of natural forests were cleared to make way for tea, coffee and rubber plantations.
