The Ravaged Paradise

The book makes a systematic attempt to explore the environmental history of Darjeeling during the British colonial period (1835-1947), which profoundly transformed the environment of Darjeeling by intro­ducing commercial control over the natural resources. After the foundation of Darjeeling as the hill station for the low-income groups of British administration living in Bengal and Burma, the place was transformed into a social, recreational and commercial centre for the British authorities. The railway construction boom, introduction of tea plantation, the growth of a commercial market for timber and increasing demands for fuel and building materials depleted the forest cover. The less explored regions of Darjeeling attracted the adventure-thirsty Britons. A series of investigations were made on the marketable prod­ucts, the condition of roads, and quality of soil of these regions. The ethnographic, geological, botanical and zoological study of the Darjeeling was started by the colonial officials in the nineteenth century.