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Eva-Internal: Date of Submission: 28/09/20
Eva-Internal: Date of Submission: 28/09/20
Country India
Location Orissa
Coordinates 20.398464°N
84.402366°E
Period 1866-1868
Total deaths 4-5 million
Observations Drought
Causes:-
Like all Indian famines of the 19th-century. the Orissa famine was
preceded by a drought: the population of the region depended on
the rice crop of the winter season for their sustenance; however.
the monsoon of 1865 was scanty and stopped prematurely.[2] In
addition. the Bengal Board of Revenue made incorrect estimates of
the number of people who would need help and was misled by
fictitious price lists. Consequently. as the food reserves began to
dwindle. the gravity of the situation was not grasped until the end
of May 1866. and by then the monsoons had set in.
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
Odisha. 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.[2] Although many people died of
starvation. more were killed by cholera before the monsoons and by
malaria afterwards. In Odisha 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.[2]
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.
[2]
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 spent 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.
Effects
Lessons learnt from this famine by the British rulers included "the
importance of developing an adequate network of communications" and
"the need to anticipate disaster".[4] Indian Famine Codes were slowly
developed which were "designed to be put into place as soon as a failure
of the monsoon. or other warning-signal. indicated a probable shortage".
[5]
One early success of this new approach was seen in the Bihar famine
of 1873-74 when the famine relief under Sir Richard Temple resulted in
the avoidance of almost all mortality.[6]
The famine also served to awaken educated Indians about the effect that
British rule was having on India. The fact that during the Orissa famine
India exported more than 200 million pounds of rice to Great
Britain even while more than one million succumbed to famine outraged
Indian nationalists. Dadabhai Naoroji used this as evidence to develop
the Drain Theory. the idea that Britain was enriching itself by "sucking
the lifeblood out of India".
b. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/After-Orissa-its-SOS-
Andhra-Pradesh/articleshow/811589475.cms
Sep 8. 2001.
Hyderabad:
Orissa’s misery may soon befall n chandrababu Naidu’s
Andhra Pradesh. far from the silicon scope of Hyderabad lies
another reality of lost livelihoods and impending starvation. A
report from the districts where pangs of hunger expose the myth
behind the hype.
Warangal:
k. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/daily-wagers-
from-ap-on-the-verge-of-starvation/article31156703.ece
l. https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/two-
children-die-of-starvation-in-andhra-ngo-119050301274_1.html
m.https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/andhra-s-poor-hang-
precariously-between-heat-and-hunger/story-
CCkxUOifMNbrgwoJr7EGjN.html
n. https://motherchildnutrition.org/india/pdf/mcn-india-state-hunger-
index.pdf
o. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/starvation-deaths-andhra-
two-children-die-after-eating-mud-food-101187
p. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/death-by-starvation-
31046
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