Railway fuel and its impact on the forests in colonial India

The case of the Punjab, 1860-1884

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3634539
AutoresPallavi V Das (Lakehead University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen47
Número4
Páginas1283-1309
Fecha de publicación2013-07-01
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x12000637
OpenAlexW2153383560
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas15

Recent studies have stressed the need for micro-histories of the environment so that important differences and similarities at local, regional and national level might be revealed. This paper analyses the process and patterns of environmental degradation at regional level by taking the case of deforestation in colonial Punjab by studying its implication at the level of empire. More specifically, it examines three aspects of how the operation and expansion of railways from 1869 to 1884, a peak period of railway expansion, affected the forests of the Punjab's plains. First, the paper analyses the reasons for large-scale railway expansion in the Punjab by discussing spatial and temporal expansion. Secondly, the impact of the railway firewood demand on the Punjab's forests between 1860 and 1884 is examined, specifically, the conditions that facilitated the increased dependence of the railways on firewood. Next follows an examination of the temporally varying nature of deforestation, given that railway firewood demand was determined by railway line openings. This section also includes a discussion on the nature of the colonial state response to the deforestation crisis and its role in maintaining the fuel supply to the railways. Finally, in the context of deforestation in the Punjab, the paper discusses how and why railway fuel changed from firewood to coal

Archaeology · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Deforestation (computer science · Economics · Firewood · Geography · Natural resource economics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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