Which of the following industries was affected most due to partition? (1987)

Answer: (a) Cotton and jute

Jute mills stayed in India but jute fields went to East Pakistan; cotton areas went to West Pakistan — the worst-hit industries.

The idea

An industry needs a continuous link between raw materials and its mills. Partition changed political borders across existing farming and industrial regions. Mills that remained on one side could lose easy access to supplies on the other, even without damage to the factories themselves.

Farms and mills develop as one supply network → Partition creates an international border → Some raw-material regions lie across it → Transport and trade face new barriers → Mills face shortages → New domestic supplies and trade arrangements become necessary

Also know

The Hooghly belt had jute mills, river water, labour and access to Kolkata’s port. Cotton mills in Mumbai and Ahmedabad depended on inland cotton-growing areas as well as trade links. The disruption did not mean that all cotton or all jute cultivation disappeared from India.