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Famine in India GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE AND AGRICULTURE (FAMINE) .. NARRATIVE OF THE FAMINE IN INDIA IN 1896-97. BV T. W. HOLDERNESS, l.C.S., DEPUTY SECRETARY (FAMINE) TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. SIMLA: PRINTED AT THE GOVERNMENT CENTRAL PRINTING OFFICE. 44 CONTENTS. PAGES. SECTION I.-THE CAUSE OF THE FAMINE 1-3 ,, Il,-THE AREAS AND POPULATIONS AFFECTED 3-8 Ill.-THE COURSE OF PRICES 4-II " 11-13 II IV.-FOODSTOCKS , V.-THE FIRST PERIOD OF THE FAMINE-ALARM AND PRE- PARATIONS •••. ••• 14-23 VI.-THE SECOND PERIOD-FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF " RELIEF OPERATIONS TO THE CLOSE OF THE SPRING HAR· VEST ••• 22-34 Vll.-THE THIRD PERIOD-FROM THE CLOSE OF THESPRINGHAR· II VEST TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONSOON RAINS 35-39 . ,, VIII.-THE FOURTH PERIOD-THE CLOSE OF THE FAMINE ,,, 40-42 ,, IX.-THE MORTALITY OF THE FAMINE ... 43-48 X.-STATISTICS OF COST AND RELIEF II ... 48-sr Xl.-THE GRAIN TRADE AND THE RAILWAYS 52-55 " , Xll.-IRRIGATION AND THE FAMINE ss-ss II Xdi.-THE INDIAN FAMINE CHARITABLE RELIEF FUND ... sB-sg PAGES. NOTE REGARDING MALARIAL FEVER IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES APPENDICES. PAGES. ~ No. I.-STATEMENT OF AREAS AND POPULATIONS DISTRESSED 2-3 ,, H.-STATEMENT OF NUMBER OF PERSONS ON RELIEF IN EACH DIS· TRICT IN BRITISH INDIA AND IN NATIVE STATES 4-9 IlL-STATEMENT OF MONTHLY DEATH-RATE FROM OCTOBER 1896 TO " AUGUST 1897 IN EACH DISTRESSED DISTRICT IN BRITISH INDIA 10-1 I II lV.-STATEMENT OF NUMBER OF DEATHS IN EACH MONTI-I IN EACH PROVINCE IN BRITISH INDIA 12 II V.-STATEMENT OF RELIEF UNITS (OF ONE DAY EACH) RELIEVED IN EACH PROVINCE AND IN NATIVE STATES 13 Vl.-STATEMENT OF AVERAGE MONTHLY NUMBER OF PERSONS RE· " CEIVING RELIEF IN EACH PROVINCE AND IN NATIVE StATES 14 , Vll.-STATEMENT OF NET IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF FOOD-GRAINS 15-19 , VIII.-STATEMENT SHOWING EXTENSION OF IRRIGATION SINCE 1881 ... 2o 45 Narrative of the Famine of I896-97. I. The account given in these pages of the famine of I 896-97 has no claim to be more than an imperfect sketch put together from incomplete and scattered materials. For a complete review of the subject the reports of the Provincial Governments are required, and some time must elapse before all of these are ready. Famine opera~ions have. nea.rly closed in ~enga~, the ~orthvW,estern Provinces and the PunJab. But m the Central Provmces the rehef of distress still occupies the energies of the local administra~ion, notwithstanding that agri· cultural prospects there are excellent : while in Madras, Bombay and Burma the protraction of the period o! drought ~ill the end ?f August makes ~t at prese~t difficult to say when rehef operations there wtll completely termmate. It IS thoucrht that a general' account of the famine will be of some interest. while its events are still fresh, and that a detailed discussion of the measures under­ taken to combat it and of the questions of administrative policy which arose from time to time during the progress of these measures may be postponed until more complete information is available. I.-The cause of the jamz"ne. 2. The cause of the famine of I 897 was the early cessation of the autumn rains of : 8g6. The south-west monsoon was late in establishing itself in June 1896 on the West Coast, and from its first appearance was ill-distributed and fitful in character. Throughout July the rainfall wa3 more ·or less deficient in Bengal and Central and Northern India, and gave rise to apprehensions. In August the monsoon appe~red to have. recover~d strength, and f!eqqent cyclonic storms gave heavy ram to the Central Provmces, Central lndta, and Rajputana. Elsewhere in Upper India the rainfall was in defect. Early in September the hopes of an improving monsoon were disappointed. The rainfall was in large defect over by far the greatest part of India, and was in excess only in East and North Bengal, South India, and Lower Burma. During this month irretrievable injury was sustained by the rain crops. In the North-Western Provinces and Oudh the average rainfall in September is from 5 to 8 inches, being lowest in the west and highest in the east. In ·September I 896 no division of the provinces received more than 1 inch, and in most the fall was considerably less. In the Punjab the fall was under half an' inch, except in the north and the hill divisions, against an average of 3 to 5 inches. In the Central Provinces less than ·half an inch fell in the western and central tracts where the average September rainfall exceeds eight inches. Berar received ·38 of an inch against an average of 6·23 inches. The fall in Rajputana and Central India was equally small. In the Bombay Deccan I'2o inches fell against an average of 5'53 ~inches, and in Khandesh '96 of an inch against seven inches. In the Madras Deccan tqe fall varied from I to 2 inches against an average of 5 inches. In Bengal and Behar the defect was less, and but for the cessation of the south-west monsoon early in the following month this part of India would have escaped without serious damage. In October virtually no rain fell in the Punjab, the North. Western Provinces and Oudh, Rajputana, Central India, the Central Provinces, or Berar. In the Bombay and Madras Deccan from i to I inch fell in place of the normal rainfall of 4 to 6 inches. This following the protracted drought of September completed the ruin of the crops over .vast areas, and made so wings for the cold weather crops · almost impossible without the help of irrigaticn. In Bengal the October rainfall is in ordinary years larger in amount and of even more importance, on account of · the late rice crop, than in Upper India. In most divisions in Bengal proptr the average fall in October is from 4 to 6 inches: and in Behar nearly three inches. In October t8g6 Behar was rainless, and throughout Beng;:tl proper the fall in most divisions was under one inch. Orissa received '09 of an inch acrainst an average of s·Ss. The late or winter rice crop, representing half th: total cropped area of the province, sustained great injury. In many. places three­ quarters of the crop was lost. For the whole of Bengal, Orissa and Behar 2 the yield of the rice crop is returned at 9} million tons against 20~ millions, a loss of more than half the crop. The early withdrawal of a weak ~outh·west monsoon was fol!o,~·ed. by a still weaker north-east monsoon, on whtch the eastern and central dtstncts of Madras chiefly depend. In the central districts only '36 of an inch fell in October against an average of 5'21 inches: and along the East Coast the deficiency was still greater. · 3· Thus the month. of October ~losed with the. entire Indian con!in~nt face to face with the most wtde-spread fatlure of the rams and the gravest Impend­ ing famine of the century. ~r?m this ext re~e peril it was rescued by most opportune and unlooked for ram m the su·cceedmg month. 4· In the first week of November scattered showers fell in the Punjab and Southern India, which were followed by continuous heavy rain over the central and southern divisions of Madras. In the middle of the month there was good rain in the Bombay Presidency, and this extended to the Central Provinces Berar, Mysore, Hyderabad, the North- Westet:n Provinces and Ou~h, Central India and Rajputana, Behar and Bengal. Outs1de the Madras Prestdtncy and the Bombay Deccan the amount of rain registered in most tracts was under one inch, but it enabled cold weather crops to be very largely sown on unirrigated lands with fair hope of the seed germinating. In the Bombay Deccan con­ siderably over one inch of rain fell, in Mysore over zt inches. Thus the effect of the November rain was to confine serious crop-failure in the Bombay and , Madras Presidencies to the relatively small and sparsely populated area of the Deccan districts, and to secure a cold weather crop in Central and Upper India­ scanty in extent, it is true, and sown under unfavourable conditions, but still sufficient to very materially supplement the depleted stocks of the country. From November the scarcity, though serious, shrank within measurable dimen- tio!1s. • _ 5· The month of December was as abnormally wel as November. Fairly gen. era! rain in moderate amounts, aggregating about one inch or less, was recorded during the month in most provinces, enabling sowings to be carried on to the end of the year and greatly benefiting the crops already sown. In the Deccan country and in the Nizam's Dominions the falls were very slight, and in this part of India the crops sown after the November rain as a rule absolutely failed. But elsewhere the month· closed with better prospects for the sown lands than were thought possible in October. · 6. These prospects w~re m~intained by light to moderate rain in many parts of Upper and Central Indta dunng January and February. In the latter part of February and the beginning of March hot winds did a good deal of damaae to the crops on unirrigated lands, and anxiety was felt lest they should be "'com­ pletely dried up before maturity. But in the middle of March the approaeh of the hot weather was arrested by frequent storms'.
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