Ferozepur District Survey Report Ferozpur (Punjab) INTRODUCTION Firozpur district is one of the important historical districts of the Punjab. The name Firozpur obviously means the town of Firoz. Probably the founder was 1 Firoz Shah Tughlaq (A.D.) 1351-88), as the place must always have occupied an important position on the line of communication between Delhi and Lahore. Anot her tradition, however, ascribes its foundation to one of the Bhatti chief named Firoz Khan, in the middle of the sixteen century. The district came into being on the annexation of Firozpur by the British in 1836. As a result of the First Anglo-Sikh War, 1845-46, the ilaqas of KhaiMudki, etc. and certain other Lahore territories, east of the Satluj, were added to it. When the Badhni District (now called BadhniKalan in the Faridkot District) was broken up in 1847, some of its parts were added to the Firozpur District. The next addition compressed portions of the ilaqas of Muktsar and KotKapura in 1852. In 1856, the estates of the deposed Nawab of Mamdot were annexed. In 1958, village of Sibian was taken back from the Faridkot State. On the partition of the Sirsa District in 1884, its western half was included in the Firozpur District. In 1959, the Nathana Sub Tehsil (comprising 37 villages) of the Firozpur Tehsil was transferred to the Bathinda District. On the exchange of enclaves between India and Pakistan on 17 January 1961, following an agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Pakistan on 11 January 1960, certain areas in the vicinity of the Suleimanki Headworks in the Fazilka Tehsil were transferred to Pakistan in exchange of the areas near the Hussaniwala Headworks. These areas were added to the Firozpur Tehsil. Location & Geographical Area The Firozpur District lies between latitude 29o-55’ and 31o-09’ and between longitude 73o-53’ and 75o-24’ and its Georaphical area 50303 square Km. Before 15 August 1973, this district was the southernmost of the seven districts of the Jalandhar Division of the PunjabState. On that date, the new Firozpur Division was formed and the Firozpur district was included in it. The boundary of the present Firozpur District on the east runs along the Faridkot District. On the north-east, the River Satluj generally separates it from the Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts. The united stream of the Satluj and the Beas generally separates it from the Amritsar District in the north-west, and farther down from the Pakistan, with the exception of some areas on each side of the river. District comprises there tehsils/subdivisions, viz. Firozpur in the middle, Zira on the east, Fazilka (now district) on the south-west. All important places in the District are connected by rail or road. Almost 11 km from the 2 Hussainiwala border on the west and 121 km from Ludhiana in the east lies the City of Firozpur, the headquarter s of the District administration. By road, it is 116 km from Amritsar, 130 km from Jalandhar, 122km from Ludhiana, 103km from Bathinda (via KotKapura), 86km from Fazilka. The city lies on the Firozpur cantonment-Ludhiana branch line of Northern Railway. 3 Source:-Google PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE DISTRICT 4 Physiographically, the Firozpur District constitutes a part of the Punjab plain, which is largely flat and featureless and is formed of Pleistocene and Sub- recent alluvial deposits of the Indo-Gangetic system. Wind act has also played a part in shaping the relief of the District, located as it is in the vicinity of the Rajasthan Desert. That is why the alluvial surface of the District is strewn with sand-dunes in some parts. The general elevation of the District ranges from 230 meters in the north-east to about 175 meters in the south-west, giving a north-east-to south-west gradient of one meter in 4km. Though the physiography of the District is apparently a homogeneous plain, in general, it displays significant variations, if examined at local levels. The following three terrain units can be indentified: (i) The floodplain of the Satluj. (ii) The sand-dune-infested tract. (iii) The upland plain of subtle (i)The Floodplain of the Satluj: the floodplain of the Satluj occupies the northern half of the Zira Tehsil, the northern and western sections of the Firozpur Tehsil and the north-western part of the Fazilka tehsil. This tract is locally known as the bet Satluj. It is a lowlying, uneven 10-15 -km-wide stretch of land along the Satluj River. It is covered with new alluvium and is separated from one sand-dune-infested tract to its south and east by a low cliff. Before the damming of the Satluj at Bhakra and the construction of barrages at Nagal and Harike, the River used to flood this tract during the rainy season. This area is quite safe from floods at present, giving stability to its settlements and agriculture. At places, the tract contains abandoned courses of the River, patches of marshy land, and pockets of thickly growing grasses. It is now being reclaimed or agriculture and other uses. ii) The Sand-Dune-Infested Tract: This tract, which runs parallels to the bet Satluj to it south and east and which covers the lower part of the Zira Tehsil, the eastern half of the Firozpur Teshil and the middle zone of the Fazilka Tehsil, is a linear stretch of numerous closely spaced sand-dunes. In fact, this tract coincides largely with the old course of the Satluj, through which the River used to flow about 400 years back, since when it has been drifting westwards. The base of the sand-dune-infested tract is formed of the alluvium deposited by the River. The sand-dunes here have been deposited by strong 5 winds, from south-west and north-west, picking up sand largely from the dry bed of the River during winter and the pre-monsoon periods when the discharge in the River is meagre. The sand-dunes are small, a few hundred meters long, and generally low, only 2 to 5 meters above the level of the surrounding ground. However, these sand-dunes are spaced close to one another, providing a distinct type of topography. (iii) The Upland Plain:The upland plain, which includes the interior parts of the District, possesses a firm base of old alluvium, with sporadically distributed sand-dunes superimposed on it. Here, the soils are reddish brown sandy loam. Within the upland plain, however, there are differences in certain respects. The north-eastern part is higher (its elevation ranging from 215 to 230 meters) than the south-western part, the elevation of which is 175 to 200 meters. Moreover, the frequency of sand-dunes is more in the latter (which adjoins the Rajasthan Desert) than in the former. It may be noted that many of the sand-dunes, both in the sand-dune-infested tract and in the upland plain, have been leveled by the farmers and brought under cultivation. This expansion in agricultural land has been made possible by the extension of irrigation, particularly by canals. This development has brought about considerable changes in the topography of the District. In brief, the physiography of the District was originally designed by the depositional work of the Satluj. Later on, it was worked over by the action of the wind simultaneously with that of the River. Recently, man has been instrumental in smoothening out some of the irregularities in relief consequent upon the development of canal irrigation. (iv)Active Flood Plain of the Subtle: This is the youngest surface of the area represented by the day flood plain deposits of the Satluj River. River Satluj has a wide flood plain, the flooding of the river being more or less a yearly feature. Sukhbarnala has a long meandering channel, which comprises mainly loose sand with little silt and clay .Palaeo-channels Channel like depressions occur near Firozpur, Faridkot, Sayanwali, Bhanger Sappanwali, Dagga Rammana, Wattu, GoleWala, Pakka, Tina, BhureGujar and TarioWali.Ferozpur and Faridkot appear to lie on the old river bed. Channel of SukarNala passes in between the Firozpurcity and FirozpurCantt.Channel like depression near Bhanger, Sappanwali, Sayanwali, Faridkot, Dagga Rammana, Wattu and TarioWali appear to be the continuity of the Palaeo-channel passing through Atari, Salina, Dagru Mudki (Garg & Singh 1992).The channels run parallel to the 6 Rajasthan Feeder/Sirhind Feeder. But near Faridkot and Wattu it cut across the canals. Palaeo- channels have been observed in other parts of Punjab in Sangrur, Ludhiana, Faridkot and Ferozpur districts. As already reported that river Satlujhas was shifting its course towards west (Garg & Singh 1991 and Garg & Singh 1992). In Sangrur district the original course of the river was approximately through Malerkotla, NaoDharani, AhanKheri, Pharwahi, and Katron and Barnala. Subsequently the river began to flow through Ahmedgarh LohatBaddi, Kalsian, Rajgarh, and Jalal Di Wal. Further shift made the river flow though Atari, Salina, Dagru, Mangewal, Mudki, Bhanger, Sappanwali, Fridkot, Dagga Rammana, Wattu, TarioWali and BureGujar. The Sutlej presently flows along northern and western border of the Firozpur district and is joined by the southwest flowing Beas River at Harike.Presence of Palaeo- channels has been corroborated by the study of landsat imagery data at the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana. 7 1.Rainfall The south-west monsoon generally arrives in the first week of July and continues up to the end of August. About 70% of the rainfall in the district is received during the period from June to September and as much as about 18% rainfall occurs during the period from December to February.