T . E. Ravenshaw was not responsible for the great Naanka famine of odisha............. Course and relief Efforts to ship the food to the isolated province were hampered because of bad weather, and when some shipments did reach the coast of Orissa, they could not be moved inland. The British Indian government imported some 10,000 tons of rice, which reached the affected population only in September.[1] Although many people died of starvation, more were killed by cholera before the monsoons and by malaria afterwards. In Orissa alone, at least 1 million people, a third of the population, died in 1866, and overall in the region approximately 4 to 5 million died in the two-year period.[1] The heavy rains of 1866 also caused floods which destroyed the rice-crop in low-lying regions. Consequently, in the following year, another shortfall was expected, and the Government of British India imported approximately 40,000 tons of rice at four times the usual price.[1] However, this time they overestimated the need, and only half the rice was used by the time the summer monsoon of 1867, followed by a plentiful harvest, ended the famine in 1868. In the two years of the famine, the Government of British India spend approximately Rs.9,500,000 on famine relief for 35 million units (i.e. one person per day); a large proportion of the cost, however, was the high price of the imported grain.[1]
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 18:18:48 +0000
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