Between 1880 and 1920, forest cover in the Indian subcontinent... - India And The Contemporary World – I

Railways:
Railways were the single largest cause of deforestation. Wood was needed in huge quantities as fuel for locomotives and for "sleepers" (wooden planks) to hold railway tracks together. As the railway network expanded, vast forests were cut down to meet this demand.

Shipbuilding:
By the early 19th century, oak forests in England were disappearing. The British Royal Navy needed timber to build ships to maintain their colonial power. Search parties were sent to India, and massive quantities of timber (like Teak) were exported from India to England, leading to deforestation.

Agricultural Expansion:
The British encouraged the expansion of cultivation because they saw forests as "unproductive" wilderness. They believed that clearing forests for agriculture would increase the state's income through land revenue and produce more crops. Between 1880 and 1920, the cultivated area rose by 6.7 million hectares.

Commercial Farming:
The demand for commercial crops like jute, sugar, wheat, and cotton increased in 19th-century Europe. To meet this demand and feed the growing urban population and industries, forests were cleared to make way for large-scale commercial farming.

Tea/Coffee Plantations:
The colonial government took over vast areas of forests and gave them to European planters at cheap rates. These forests were cleared and converted into tea and coffee plantations to meet the growing demand for these beverages in Europe.

Adivasis and other peasant users:
While Adivasis used the forest for firewood, fodder, and shifting cultivation, their impact was minimal and sustainable compared to colonial exploitation. However, the colonial state often blamed them for forest destruction to justify taking over forest lands, even though the large-scale decline was driven by industrial and commercial demands.