Question

How many trees were being cut annually for sleepers in $1850s$ in the Madras Presidency?

• A. $38,000trees$
• B. $35,890trees$
• C. $37,990trees$
• D. $35,000trees$

Answer 1

The correct option is D $35,000trees$

To run locomotives, wood was needed as fuel, and to lay railway lines sleepers were essential to hold the tracks together. Each mile of railway track required between 1760 and 2000 sleepers. from the 1860s the railway network expanded rapidly.

By 1890 about 25,500 km. of the track had been laid. In 1946, the length of the track had increased to over 765000 km. As the railway tracks spread through India, a larger and larger number of trees were felled. As early as the 1850s, in Madras Presidency alone 35,000 trees were being cut annually for sleepers.