Page:Indian Journal of Economics Volume 2.djvu/677

 INDIAN FUEL PROBLEM amounted to 1 lskhs of cubic feet, 'i.e., about t lskhs of tons. At even a pound per day rate, the total demand for fuel in the province, during the year, would have come to over 70: lakhs of tons. That is, only obout 4 per cent of the total demand at this very lowerate, could have been met by our Forests, during that year, even if all the forest fuel went to satisfy domestic uses only. A perusal of the population tables since 1891 will show that for the ere ama incremen i umbers the equivalent fuel demand, even at the very low rate o! a pound o! fire-wood per head per day, will be about 900,000 tons, while on our assumed rate it would be 700,000 tons. We have still to consider the increased demand for fuel on account o! the im- provement in the standard of livin The average annual out-turn o! timber British Indian Forests for with 1914-15 was roughly which the fuel cent. ..,196 million cubic feet. ing period a decade earlier, the fuel, assumin the same propmion between timber and fuel, was 166 million cubic feet a year. The difference o! 30 million cubic feet represents the improvement o! the decade. It is extremely doubt- fuel of the people. and fuel from the quiniquennuim ending 280 million cubic feet, of snpply would have been about 70 per For the correspond- average out-turn of upon for ever. But even assuming that this is feasible, the annual increment o fuel would come up only to 8 million cubic feet or  lakh tons. That is to say, the proportion which the possZ additional supplies of firewood will bear to the likely additional demand therefor will be as 8 to 16, even on so low a per a/r/ta fuel consumption as a pound per day. The village potter consumes a certain quantity o! ful whether such a progressive increase in the capacity o! our Forests can be safely counted