User:Vanished user 371839/sandbox/1918 Flu Pandemic in India

1918 flu pandemic in India was an outbreak of a deadly influenza in India between 1918-1920 as a part of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic. Also referred to as the Bombay Influenza or the Bombay Fever in India, the pandemic is believed to have killed up to 14 -17 million people in the country, the most among all countries affected by the pandemic. In 2019, David Arnold stated that at least 12 million had died which was about 5% of the population. The decade between 1911 and 1921 was the only census period in which India’s population fell, mostly due to devastation of the pandemic. The death toll in India's British-ruled districts was 13.88 million.

In India, the pandemic broke out in Bombay in June 1918,  with one of the possible routes being ships which were carrying troops returning from the First World War in Europe. The outbreak then spread across the country reaching the whole country by August. It hit different parts of the country in three waves with the second wave having the highest mortality rate. The death rate peaked in the last week of September of 1918 in Bombay, in the middle of October in Madras, and in the middle of November in Calcutta.

The outbreak most severely affected younger people in the age group of 20 to 40, with women suffering disproportionately. According to the Sanitary Commissioner's report for 1918, the maximum death toll in a week exceeded 200 deaths in both Bombay and Madras. The spread of the disease was exacerbated by a failed monsoon and the resultant famine-like conditions, that had left people underfed and weak, and forced them to move into densely populated cities. As a result of the severity of the outbreak, the year 1919 saw a reduction of births by around 30 percent. The population growth of India during the decade from 1911-1921 was 1.2%, the lowest among all decades under the British Raj. In his memoirs the Hindi poet, Suryakant Tripathi, wrote "Ganga was swollen with dead bodies." The sanitary commissioner's report for 1918 also noted that all rivers across India were clogged up with bodies, because of a shortage of firewood for cremation.

Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India's independence struggle, was also infected by the virus. The pandemic had a significant influence in the freedom movement of the country. The healthcare system in the country was unable to meet the sudden increase in demands for medical attention. The consequent toll of death, misery and economic fallout brought about by the pandemic led to an increase in emotion against colonial rule.