Essay On Floods And Famines..
Pakistani agriculture, on which the country depends for its food supply. depends in its turn on the annual monsoon. If the monsoon breaks at the proper time and brings sufficient rain, the crops are abundant; but if it fails, or comes very late, the crops fail and agriculture is brought to a stand-still; and the result is dearth of food, or famine, with all its terrible consequences.
As there is no reason to think that the climate of Pakistan has radically changed in historical times, famines must have been as frequent and severe in older times as they are today. If we have not many historical records of famines in the past, this is due to the fact that ancient histories, which were devoted mainly to the description of wars. the policy of Kings and the intrigues of royal courts. considered the lives and sufferings of the common people beneath their notice.
In fact famines are not today the terrible disasters they were in the old days. Before the introduction of railways and good roads, a famine-stricken district was helpless. In that district there was little or no food. and as food could not be brought from a distance. The people simply died of starvation by the thousands. The introduction of railways about the middle of the 19th Century, and the construction of good metalled roads, have changed the character of famines. Now-a-days in a Famine-stricken district there is no lack of food, because corn is brought in by the railways from the districts where the monsoon has not failed. So there is no starvation from an absolute dearth of food.
The difficulty, however, remains that the poor people. who are thrown out of work by the failure of monsoon, have no money to buy food. however abundant it is. This difficulty has been met by the elaborate system of Government famine relief. As soon as famine conditions appear in a district, the Government opens famine relief works, on which the out-of-work agriculturists are employed at fair wage, which enables them to buy sufficient food to keep themselves alive and in good health. Hence in a modern famine there is little starvation and loss of life.
Beside this, large areas of the country has been made safe from famine by the wonderful irrigation canals, especially in Punjab, which make agriculture independent of monsoon. The canal system in Pakistan in the best system all over the world. All our the country there is a net of canal is irrigate all the agricultural lands. In this way, there are less chances of famine at present.
So, thanks to the railways, the Government famine relief system, and irrigation famine in modern times has been robbed of much of its terrors. It does not mean that we should canals, ignore this one danger. There can be a problem of famine in any part of the world or the country. We should be ready to cope with all kind of situation.
Pakistani agriculture, on which the country depends for its food supply. depends in its turn on the annual monsoon. If the monsoon breaks at the proper time and brings sufficient rain, the crops are abundant; but if it fails, or comes very late, the crops fail and agriculture is brought to a stand-still; and the result is dearth of food, or famine, with all its terrible consequences.
As there is no reason to think that the climate of Pakistan has radically changed in historical times, famines must have been as frequent and severe in older times as they are today. If we have not many historical records of famines in the past, this is due to the fact that ancient histories, which were devoted mainly to the description of wars. the policy of Kings and the intrigues of royal courts. considered the lives and sufferings of the common people beneath their notice.
In fact famines are not today the terrible disasters they were in the old days. Before the introduction of railways and good roads, a famine-stricken district was helpless. In that district there was little or no food. and as food could not be brought from a distance. The people simply died of starvation by the thousands. The introduction of railways about the middle of the 19th Century, and the construction of good metalled roads, have changed the character of famines. Now-a-days in a Famine-stricken district there is no lack of food, because corn is brought in by the railways from the districts where the monsoon has not failed. So there is no starvation from an absolute dearth of food.
The difficulty, however, remains that the poor people. who are thrown out of work by the failure of monsoon, have no money to buy food. however abundant it is. This difficulty has been met by the elaborate system of Government famine relief. As soon as famine conditions appear in a district, the Government opens famine relief works, on which the out-of-work agriculturists are employed at fair wage, which enables them to buy sufficient food to keep themselves alive and in good health. Hence in a modern famine there is little starvation and loss of life.
Beside this, large areas of the country has been made safe from famine by the wonderful irrigation canals, especially in Punjab, which make agriculture independent of monsoon. The canal system in Pakistan in the best system all over the world. All our the country there is a net of canal is irrigate all the agricultural lands. In this way, there are less chances of famine at present.
So, thanks to the railways, the Government famine relief system, and irrigation famine in modern times has been robbed of much of its terrors. It does not mean that we should canals, ignore this one danger. There can be a problem of famine in any part of the world or the country. We should be ready to cope with all kind of situation.
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