Environment and Health: A Search for Unhealthy Public Health Condition of District Birbhum in the Colonial Period

Abstract

This paper is a case study of District Birbhum (West Bengal, India) in the colonial period. The methodology of this paper is based on the sources from colonial period. From 19th century to first half of the 20th century, the district suffered from various epidemic diseases, among them the maximum mortality was caused by cholera and malaria. From the sources of the period it is somewhat clear that the causes of epidemics and mortality had a close connection with the environment of the region.