PART II THE BLOCK

With an aim to achieve integrated development of the block and overall prosperity of the people, the study of Valtoha Block has been carried out by studying and analyzing problems and potentials of the block. For this purpose, following major aspects have been considered. 5. REGIONAL SETTING 5.1 LOCATION Valtoha Block is located in of Punjab. It consists of 59 small and large settlements (including Khemkaran-an urban settlement) which have their own problems and potentials. The surroundings of the block consist of Indo – Pak border on one side and other blocks on the remaining sides (Already shown on Map 3). North: , East: Patti, South: Ferozepur District., West/South: 72.58 km Border, on the South – West runs the river Sutlej. 5.2 LOCATIONAL ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES By virtue of its location, Valtoha block experiences some benefits and constraints. It lies between Bhikhiwind block, Patti block and Ferozepur district. Thereby having linkages with these areas. Two major roads link it with the surroundings: – Khemkaran road and Valtoha – Patti road. Majority of the large settlements are located along these roads because of better connectivity and infrastructural facilities. The villages along the Indo– Pakistan border are thinly populated and are smaller in size because of being under a threat of conflict between the two nations. These villages require urgent attention for development. Stretch of approximately 72.58 km lies along the border and total number of villages along border are twenty in numbers such as – Rajoke, Lakhna, Vaan Tara Singh, Thatti Jaimal Singh, Kalia, Sakattara in North West direction and Noorwala, Dhoolnau, Khem Karan, Kalas, Miyanwala, Chak Ladheke, Mehdi Pur, Mahamadi Wala, Macchike in South West Direction. Rattoke, Gajjal, Jhuggian Noor Mohammad, Jhuggian Natha Singh and Muthian Wala also lie along border in South East direction of the Valtoha Block. These villages have locational disadvantage from development point of view and requires special incentives for planning and development. One urban settlement namely, Khemkaran is located in the south – west area of the block. It is strongly linked to Amritsar via the Amritsar – Khemkaran road and is a major nodal centre in the block. It is also linked by railway line. On analyzing the road / network within and outside the block it has been found that the villages that lie along the major transport routes are bigger, both area and population wise and have better facilities. These villages are namely Valtoha, Khemkaran, Rajoke, Ameerke, Varnala, Asal Uttar, and Mehmood Pura. (Refer Map 4). 6. PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROFILE Physiography involves the study of topography, climate, soil, drainage, etc. By analyzing the physiography of an area it has been found that how various physical features / components of an area could be used for future development. 6.1 TOPOGRAPHY The block is a part of the alluvial plains of Punjab. The average height of the block from mean sea level is 216m and the general slope is from North–East to South–West. 6.2 DRAINAGE The natural drainage of the block takes along the natural slopes as mentioned above for irrigation purpose, the underground water is used by tubewells. The distributaries of Upper Bari Doab Canal (UBDC) irrigate a small portion of the land within the block. These villages are mainly: Bhoora Kona, Asal Utar, Sarai Valtoha, Valtoha, Varnala etc. 6.3 CLIMATE The climate is very cold in winters and very hot in summers. The rainy seasons sets in early July and continues till the end of September. Towards the middle of September or early October, mild cold season sets in. The cold season starts from November to early March. Hot season starts from April to June. Map 4: Valtoha Villages 6.3.1 Temperature The hottest days fall in May or June. January has the lowest temperature. In January the mean daily maximum temperature is 18.9oC and mean daily minimum is 4.7oC. Frosts are common in winter season. 6.3.2 Rainfall The overall monthly normal and extremes of rainfall (in mm) is shown in Table 1. About 84 per cent of annual rainfall is received during the period from June to September and about 18 percent of annual rainfall occurs during the period from December to February. Table 1: Normal and extremes of rainfall Month Normal rainfall (mm) Average number of rainy day January 29.2 2.1 February 27.8 2.4 March 27.8 2.1 April 15.6 1.4 May 11.7 1.2 June 34.7 2.4 July 153.1 6.8 August 144.4 6.4 September 70.7 3.0 October 9.4 0.6 November 3.3 0.3 December 14.2 1.1 Annual 541.9 298 Source: District Gazetteer, Amritsar, 1991 6.3.3 Humidity Relative humidity is generally high in the morning exceeding 70 percent, except during the summer season when it is less than 50 percent. The driest part of the year is the summer season when the relative humidity in the afternoons is about 25 percent or less. 6.4 SOIL The soil of the block is fertile. In the South and South–West regions of the block (along river Sutlej) the soil is sandy in nature and is classified as Alluvial Sandy Loam. The rest of the region has Alluvial clay loam soil (refer Map 5). Settlements with alluvial sandy loam soil are Khem Karan, Bhoora Kohna, Kalas, Noor Wala, Kalia, Sakattara, Gajjal, Toot, Jhuggian Kalu etc. Map 5: Soil and villages with alluvial clay loam are Vaan Tara Singh, Valtoha, Ameerke, Sarai Valtoha, Bhandal, Dhibbipura, Fatehpur, etc. (i) Alluvial Sandy Loam: They are mostly light and dark in colour depending upon new or old alluvium. They are rich in potash and gypsum. They are porous in nature. Such kind of soil is suitable for cotton, oil seeds, sugarcane, wheat and maize but requires too much water for plantation of different crops. (ii) Alluvial Clay Loam: These are mostly dark in colour and contain clay composition. They do not contain gravels. These are rich in all nutrients i.e. nitrogen, phosphorous, potash and such kind of soil is suitable for growing paddy, wheat and other commercial crops.

6.5 GROUND WATER TABLE The ground water is an important and precious source of water. We need to maintain its level and not to deplete it so that the future generations can also benefit from this source and we can sustain life in a better condition on this earth. 6.5.1 Drinking Water For the purpose of drinking water the ground water is available at a depth of 80ft but the primary survey reveals that the quality of this water is not good for drinking. On the western side the water is available at much deeper level upto 154 ft. (Refer Map 6). Table 2: Ground water table for drinking purpose Ground water depth (feet) No. of villages % age Upto 80’ 29 53.7 81-100’ 18 33.3 100’-130’ 6 11.1 131’-154’ 1 1.9 Source: Town and Village Directory, 2001 & Primary Survey, June-July 2007 Ground water table for drinking purpose (refer Table 2) shows that majority of villages (29) which constitutes 53.7% of total, have ground water table upto 80 feet and 18 villages constitutes 33.3% have this depth within the range to 81 to 100 feet. Potable water is not available upto 350ft incase of Asal Uttar Map 6: Drinking water 6.5.2 Irrigation Water For irrigation purposes the ground water depth varies highly from 175 ft to 452ft (Refer Map. 7). Most of the villages have water table between 125 to 143 ft. Primary survey reveals that good quality water is available at a deeper level. Table 3: Ground water table for irrigation purpose.

Ground water depth (feet) No. of Villages % age

Upto 124’ 16 29.6

125’ – 143’ 29 53.7

144’ – 174’ 5 9.2

175’ – 452’ 4 7.5

Source: Town and Village Directory, 2001 & Primary Survey, June-July

2007

It is clear from the above table that 29 villages (53.7%) comes under the range of 125 feet to 143 feet and 16 villages (29.6%) lie in the range of upto 124 feet water depth for irrigation purpose. Four villages have water depth for irrigation purpose is in higher range of 175 feet to 452 feet. Thus, majority of the villages i.e. 92.5% have to use water which is not suitable for irrigation purposes.

Map 7: Irrigation water 7. DEMOGRAPHY Demography refers to study of population and related aspects. This aspect becomes very important to be studied as Physical planning and development should have a social basis in its background. Block level study has been undertaken and the database related to demographic aspect has been taken from various secondary sources as BDPO office Valtoha, Economic and statistical department, Amritsar. Field surveys have also been conducted by team members to collect some data base related to this aspect. Broadly demography deals with three aspects of population i.e. population size, composition and distribution.

Demography Aspect

Population Population Population Size Composition Distribution

Population size makes clear about the different villages of block and the population residing in it within Abadi Area or within the surroundings but in the limit of revenue boundary of each village. The exact figures represent population size which would help in future population projections. Later population composition highlights the %age of males and females within block and in each village. These aspects highlight the quantitative data base only but as physical planner database has to be looked upon spatially which refers to population distribution.

Analysis done at three levels

Aspect wise Cross-tabular Spatial Analysis analysis analysis

Aspect wise analysis would give the quantitative and qualitative picture of the demographic profile of the Valtoha block. Then the relationship of population aspects with the other aspects would develop a deep understanding of cross tabular findings in the block. All the above when analyzed spatially would give a clear picture of the spatial distribution and issues related to spatial planning of the block. The details of the aspects studied along with the analysis are given below: 7.1 GENERAL Valtoha block of Tarn Taran district which lies along the International border of Pakistan has a population of 91115 persons as per 2001 figures of town and villages directory obtained form the District Economics and Statistical Department. The total population of 91115 persons has broad composition of 53% males and 47% females. The population is distributed in 54 villages of the block out of 58 villages as four villages namely Chak Ladheke, Mahamadi wale, Dodipura, Kaso pura are Bechirag/uninhabited villages. The administrative headquarter of Valtoha block is Valtoha, in almost centre of the block. Khemkaran is the only urban settlement in the Block; because of this the data related to many aspects was not available in the Block.

7.2 POPULATION DISTRIBUTION If population classification is seen as per Table 4, it is clear that there came a change in %age of villages which fall under different classification. Table 4: Population distribution from 1991-2001 Valtoha Block Population size No. of %age No. of %age villages villages (1991) (2001) Bechirag/ 4 7.00 4 7.00 Uninhabited 1-500 14 23.70 13 20.30 501-1000 20 33.90 14 23.70 1001-2000 11 18.64 15 25.40 2001-4000 7 11.76 10 16.80 4001-10854 3 5.00 3 5.00 Total Number 59* 100.0 59 100.00 Source: Town and village Directory (.), 1991, 2001 *Including Khemkaran As it is clear that two villages of range 1-500, seven villages of classification of 501-1000 population got shifted to range of 1001-2000 and 2001-4000 respectively. Muthian wala and Ram Singh Wala are the villages which shifted from 1-500 to 501-1000 range and Ameerke, Kalanjar Uttar, Doohal Kohna, Rasoolpur, Bhangala, from 501-1000 to 1000-2000 (Refer Map 8 and 9). Three villages namely Lakhana, Mehmood Pura and Jodh Singh Wala shifted from 1000-2000 to 2000- 4000 persons. The maximum increase in number of villages came in the medium sized villages of 1001-2000 and 2001-4000 range with increase of 7% and 5% respectively. The large sized villages remain same in number i.e. three. These are Valtoha itself the block headquarter, Khemkaran (Town) and Rajoke. Map 8: pop 1991 Map 9: Pop 2001 7.3 PROPOSED POPULATION HIERARCHY On the basis of population of the block, level of development of various villages, availability of facilities and linkages, future population have been extrapolated for the next 20 years for all the villages. Table 5: Proposed Population Hierarchy Population Hierarchy No. of Villages % Bechirag 4 6.8 Below 500 10 16.9 501-1000 8 13.6 1001-2000 16 27.1 2001-4000 11 18.6 4001-11000 8 13.6 11001 & above 2 3.4 Source: Computed Values Based on Population Projections As such, it is projected that the total population of the block shall increase from 91115 in 2001 to 136892 in 2021. Hence, the facilities and services that need to be added and upgraded for the projected population have been worked out in various proposals given below. Refer Table no. 5 for the population distribution which has been prepared from Map 10. Table no. 29 shows that almost half the total no. of villages lie in the population range of 1001-4000. 27 villages (Approximately 45.7%) lie in this category, whereas, in the existing situation, 29 villages (Approximately 49.1%) lie in the population range of 501-2000. Both Khemkaran and Varnala lie in the highest bracket of population range from 11001 and above. In this way both these will be treated as urban settlements but the integration of surroundings must be given consideration. Although they will be urban settlements but they must be treated as integral part of block. All data related to different aspects as well as the schemes related to the Block must be considered by the govt. through BDPO for these two settlements also. Map 10: Proposed Population 7.4 LITERACY While studying the literacy level of the block, the age group of 0-6 years has been excluded from the total population as this gives a more realistic picture of the literacy rate. The overall literacy rate of the block is 41% which is on the lower side as compared to that of Punjab which is 69.5%. The spatial distribution of literacy ratio shows that the lowest %age of literates are there in Jhuggian Kalu (about 4.8% only) and highest literacy %age is in Bhangala and Mehmood Pura which is within the range of 55-68.6% (Refer Map 11). The majority of villages have literacy rate between 43% to 55% which cover many villages along two major road links i.e. Amritsar-Khemkaran and Valtoha-Patti (via Jhuggian Kalu). These villages are 21 in numbers thereby constituting 35.6% of the total villages (Refer Table 6). It can be concluded that overall literacy level is very poor for the block which may be due to the reason that either their affordability level is low or due to the lack of educational facilities available within the block. Table 6: Literacy rate of Valtoha Block. Literacy %age No. of villages %age of total villages 4.8-17 2 3.4 17-30 7 11.9 30-43 19 32.2 43-55 21 35.6 55-68.6 6 10.2 Bechirag (4) 6.7 Total 59 (including 100 Khemkaran) Source: Town and Village Directory, Amritsar 2001 Map 11: Literacy 7.5 SCHEDULE CASTE POPULATION The percentage of schedule caste population is calculated (Refer Table 7) which shows that 36 villages out of total which constitutes 61% have SC population upto 20%. Overall spatial distribution is shown on Map 12. Maximum number of schedule caste population i.e. 90% is there in Jhuggian Kalu village where even literacy rate is also very low i.e. 4.8%. Villages including block headquarter Valtoha and urban settlement Khemkaran have S.C population ranging between 20-40%. Other important settlements like Kalanjar Uttar, Macchike, Rattoke, Jhuggian Noor Mohammad and Jodh Singh Wala have SC population in the range of 40-60%.But no major schemes for SC population have been implemented in the block. Few villages got benefit of houses from SC population under Punjab Nirman Scheme. These schemes are implemented in many villages having higher %age of SC population along with other villages named Lakhna, Masatgarh, Bahadur Nagar, Cheema Khurd, and Amarkot. Primary survey along with secondary data shows that no such scheme has been initiated in village Jhuggian Kalu, which has the highest %age of SC population. Jhuggian Kalu in year 2007 got 1.50 lac rupees for boundary wall of school and only 1.25 lac for major drainage system. Table 7: Schedule Caste Population in Valtoha Block %age of SC No. of village %age of total village Upto 20% 36 61.0 20-40% 13 22.1 40-60% 5 8.4 60-80% - - 80-90% 1 1.7 Bechirag 4 6.8 Source: Town and Village Directory, Amritsar 2001 Map 12: Scheduled Caste Population

7.6 SEX RATIO Sex ratio refers to number of females per thousand males. For this different ranges have been shown (Refer Table 8). Macchike has 951 females per thousand males. The villages like Sarai Valtoha, Ameerke, Jodh Singh wala, Rattoke, Bhandal, Lakhna, Balian wala etc. have sex ratio of 901-950 females per thousand males (Refer Map 13). Lowest sex ratio is in case of Mehmood Pura and Hado Chak Bamba which falls within category of 660-720 females per thousand males which is even less than the Punjab average of 874 females per thousand males. This becomes an alarming issue. Table 8: Sex Ratio of different villages of Valtoha Block Sex Ratio No. of villages %age of Total 660-720 2 3.40 721-780 3 5.00 781-840 14 23.70 841-900 24 40.60 901-950 10 16.80 951-1000 2 3.70 Bechirag (4) 6.80 Source: Town and Village Directory, Amritsar 2001 7.7 Population Density:- The overall population density of the block is 7 persons per Hectare which is very low. This is due to the fact that the block lies along international border of Pakistan as a result of which most of the villages along border have low development. Most of the villages (28 in number with 47.5% of total) have population density less than 2 persons per hectare (Refer Map 14). The villages along Khemkaran – Amritsar road and Khemkaran–Patti road link have higher development and even higher population density which lies in the range of 2-6 persons/Hectare (refer table 9). Villages in this range of population density are 26 in number. This shows that corridors (both the above mentioned roads) remain important even for enhancing future course of development in Valtoha Block. Table 9: Population density of different villages of Valtoha Block Density range persons/ No. of villages %age of total Hectare <2 P/ha 28 47.5 2-4 P/ha 21 35.6 4-6 P/ha 5 8.40 6-8 P/ha - - 8-10.3 P/ha 1 1.7 Bechirag (4) 6.8 Source: Town and Village Directory, Amritsar 2001 Map 13: Sex Ratio Map 14: Population Density