Census of India, 1951 DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK UTTAR PRADESH ,! 37-ALMORA DISTlUCT I I, i I I ALLAHABAD: lIPi;RINTENDENT. PRINTING AND STATIONJ:RY, UTTAR PRADEM-I, INDlA 1955 - ------------ ;;;;r.---______.... ________---. DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK 1951 ALMORA DISTRICT FOREWORD Several States, including Uttar Pradesh, have been J:?ublishing village statistics by districts at each census. In 1941 they were published in U. P. under the title "District Census Statistics" with a separate volume for each district. In the 1951 census, when the tabulation has been more elaborate than ever in view of the require, ments of the country. the district ... wise volume has been expanded into a "District Census Handbook", which now contains the District Census Tables (furnishing data with break ... up for census tracts within the district), the District Index of Non, agricultural Occupations, agricultural statistics from 190V02 to 19SO ... .s1 and other miscellaneous statistics in addition to the usual village population statistics. The village population statistics also are given in an elaborate form giving the division of the population among eight livelihood classes and other details. 2. It may be added here that a separate set of district... wise volumes giving only population figures of rural areas by villages and of urban areas by wards and mohallas and entitled "District Population Statistics" has already been published. This separate series was necessitated by the urgent requirements of the U. P. Government for elections to local bodies. 3. The number of District Census Handbooks printed so far is thirty seven. Special arrangements for speeding up the printing have now been made and it is hoped that the remaining Handbooks will be printed before the end of 1955. RAJESHW ARI PRASAD, I.A.S., RAMPm: Suptrinttnltnt, Ctnsus Operations, Stpttm&tr 30, 19S5. Uttar P"ltsb. CONTENTS Page8 INTRODUOTION- A-The District i-ii B-Analysis of the Statistics ii-viii C-Explanatory Note on the Statistics viii-x PART I-DISTRICT CENSUS TABLES A-GENERAL POPULATION TABLES- A·I Area, Houses and Population :3 A·II Variation in Population during Fifty Years :3 A·III Towns and Villages Classified by Population 4-5 A·IV Towns Classified by Population with Variations since 1901 6 A·V Towns arranged Territorially with Po:pulation by Livelihood Classes 7 E Area and Population of District and Tehsils by Livelihood Classes 8-9 B-EcONOMIO TABLES- B·I I,ivelihood Classes and Sub·classes 10-13 B·Il Secondary :Means of Livelihood 14-21 B·IlI Employers, Employees and Independent Workers in Industries and Services by Divisions and Sub·divisions 22-46 B·IV Unemployment by LivelihOOd Classes 47-48 Index of Non·agricultural Occupations 49-51 <C-HoUSEHOLD AND AGE (SAMPLE) TABLES- C·I Household (size and composition) 52-53 C·II Livelihood Classes by Age-groups 54-59 C·III Age and Civil Condition 60-63 C-IV Age and Literacy 64-67 C-V Single Year Age Returns 68-75 D-SOOIAL AND CULTURAL TABLES- D-I Languages (i) Mother Tongue 76-77 (ii) Bilingualism 78-79 D·1I Religion 80-81 D-III Scheduled Castes 80-81 D-IV Migrants 82-85 D-V (i) Displaced persOns by year of arrival in India 86-87 (ii) Displaced p~rsons by Livelihood Classes 86-87 D.VI Non-Indian Nationals 86-87 l)·VII LiveIihood Classes by Educational Standards 88-93 PART II-VILLAGE, TOWN, PARGANA AND THANA STATISTICS Primary Census Abstract 96-253 2 Pargana and Thana-wise Population 254-255 PAB'l' HI-MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS I Vital Sttltistics 258-261 2 Agricultural Statistics-(i) Rainfall 262-263 (ii) Area as classi:fied with details of area uuder cultivat10n 264-267 (iii) Cropped Area 268-283 tiv) Irrigated Area 3 Live-Stock, Agricultural Machinery and Implements 4 List of Primary Schools 284-:;>87 INTRODUCTION A-THE DISTRICT 1. The district of Almora extends from Tibet on the north to the Naini Tal district on the south and from Garhwal district on the west to Nepal on the east. The district has a total area of 5,495 square miles and its popUlation in 1951 was 7'7 lakhs k has 4 tehsils, 11 parganas and 111 * than as. • 2. The entire district lies within the Himalayan system and fully one-third of it TopolP"aphy lies beyond the outermost great snowy barrier which here exhibits among its more notable summits the peaks of Nandakot and the Pancha-chuli group. The country consists of a succession of ridges derived from the snowy range from which they trend in a general southerly direction. Snowfields, glaciers and forest-clad mountains and precipitous ravines characterise the configuration of the district. In the district the loftiest snowy peaks do not lie along the course of the Tibetah watershed. They are situated at the southern extremity of snow-clad spurs extending south from the water parting ridge, and at a distance of 20 to 30 miles from it. The watershed is throughout the greater part of its length. a simple longitudinal range and at no point it is possible to enter Tibet from the south without rising to nearly 16,800 feet. The highest peak is that of Nanda Devi. Its highest summit which attains an elevation of 25,645 feet, belongs to the Garhwal district, but an eastern buttress (24,379 feet) is situated on the border between that district and Almora. Trisul (23360 feet) is another peak which lies on the boundary and it is connected with Nanda D~vi by a ridge exceeding 21,000 feet in height. From this ridge a spur diverges towards the south-west, rising above the Pindari glacier to 20,740 feet and in Nandakot to. 22,510 feet. The Nanda Devi group is continued northwards to Unta-Dhura ridge by· a chain of peaks. There are some other minor groups of snowy peaks. East of Nanda Devi stands the Pancha-chuli. The highest peak of the group has an altitude of 22,661 feet. The great clusters of snowy peaks devide the great river basins from each other and the smaller groups separate sections of those basins from each other: thus N anda Devi separates the Kali from the Ganga system, and the Yirgnajung and Panchi-chuli minor group separate affiuents of the Kali from each other. 3. As the district contains very little level ground the best cultivation is carried Soils on terraced fields. The soil is very thin on most hill sides and is alluvial. The nor- thern slopes of the hill are usually less abrupt and less denuded by the action of the rain than the southern slopes. Fields with a northern aspect, therefore, contain thicker and richer soil. Of the tauLOn (irrigated) lands the sera lands, which occur generally low down near the irrigating stream, grow fine rice and are the richest, The other class of talaon land is panchar. These are usually situated in the uplands and they are frequently not well levelled. The other classification is of uproan. It is not ir£'igated. 4. The figures of the classification of area during the last fifty years are given Classification in Table 2 of Part III of this Volume. The proportion of area under the various of area categories works out as follows for 1950-51 : Actual figures Particulars (in acres) Percentage Cultivated area .• 505,026 14·8 CulturabJe waste (exeluding current fal~-ow) ../ 21,961 0'7 Current fallow 43,922 1'3 Forest •• 690,101 20'2 Area not available for cultivation 2,150,746 63·0 The total land area cultivated and cultivable (including current fallow) in the district is about 571 thousand acres. It works oat to 73'9 cents per capita of which 71'Of cents have already been brought -under cultivation. It may be noted, however, that the figures are only conventional estimates. 5. The order of the three seasons in the tract between the snowy range and the plains is the same as in upper India: a well marked winter, almost entirely without Climale Rnd snow is followed by a summer of nearly tropical heat which is again succeeded by a rainfall seaso~ of rains. Some rain falls in the winter, which above an altitude of 5,000 feet appears in the form of snow. The winter is extremely rigorous on the summit of the *The revenue and police administration in the district is of different pattern from the rest of the State. tThe figure also includes the area. clas~d as current f.1.11ow. il table land. The temperature decreases as the height increases. Places which lie behind the outermost high ridge are subject to a much smaller rainfall than stations situated on the ridge or in valleys opening to the south, In the river valleys the heat is always excessive and cold fogs often-follow the winter showers. The average rainfall of the district for the last quinquennium was about 61'6 inches. During the last forty­ five years the rainfall has been less than 41 inches in only one year and has usually been more than 54 inches. There are greater variations between different places. The rainfall depends upon the surroundings. The maximum falls occur at the foot of the outermost range of hills and at the foot of the snows, IrricatioD 6. Irrigation is the most important factor in determining the system of agri­ culture and the crop rotation. Water is brought into the fields from rivers or rivulets by means of channels called guls cut along the contour line of the hills. Crops 7. Throughout the greater part of the district there are, as in the plains two harvests, the kha.,if and the .,abi, Rice and mandua are the chief khanf crops.' The principal rabi corps are wheat, barley and mustard.