DISTRICT SURVEY REPORT OF DISTRICT HOSHIARPUR As per Notification no. S.O.141 (E) New Delhi, the 15th January, 2016 of Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change Government of India District Industry Centre, Hoshiarpur Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Punjab pg. 1 District Survey Report in respect of Minor Mineral Quarries/Deposits of District Hoshiarpur, Punjab. As per notification no. s.o.141 (E) New Delhi, the 15th January, 2016 of ministry of environment forest and climate change government of India INDEX Contents: Page No. 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................1-7 2. OVERVIEW OF MINING ACTIVITY IN DISTRICT ...............................8 3. LIST OF MINING LEASES IN DISTRICT HOSHIARPUR WITH LOCATION, AREA AND PERIOD OF VALIDITY......................................................9 4. DETAILS OF ROYALTY OR REVENUE RECEIVED IN LAST THREE YEARS...........................................................................10 5. DETAIL OF PRODUCTION OF SAND OR BAJARI OR MINOR MINERAL IN LAST THREE YEARS.......................................11 6. PROCESS OF DEPOSITION OF SEDIMENTS IN THE RIVERS OF DISTRICT HOSHIARPUR.................................................................12-13 7. GENERAL PROFILE OF THE DISTRICT.........................................14-20 8. LAND UTILIZATION PATTERN IN THE DISTRICT: FOREST, AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, MINING ETC...........21-25 9. PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE DISTRICT...............................................26-30 10. RAINFALL: MONTH WISE................................................................31-34 11. GEOLOGY AND MINERAL WEALTH...............................................35-44 (a) Detail of river or stream or other sand source......................... (b) Detail wise availability of sand or gravel or aggregate resources................................................................. Detail of existing mining leases of sand and aggregates..... pg. 2 PREFACE In Compliance to the Notification Issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change Dated 15.01.2016, the preparation of District survey report of Choe bed mining, river bed mining and other minor minerals is in accordance appendix 10 of the notification. It is also mentioned here that the procedure of preparation of District Survey Report is as per notification guidelines. Every effort have been made to cover sand mining locations, areas & overview of Mining activity in the district with all its relevant features pertaining to geology & mineral wealth in replenishable and non-replenishable areas of rivers, seasonal stream and other sand sources. This report will be a model and guiding document which is a compendium of available mineral resources, geographical set up, environmental and ecological set up of the District and is based on data of various departments, published reports, and websites. The data may vary due to flood, heavy rains and other natural calamities. Therefore, it is recommended that Sub Divisional Level Committee may take into consideration all its relevant aspects / data while scrutinizing and recommending the application for EC to the concerned authorities. pg. 3 1. INTRODUCTION OF DISTRICT HOSHIARPUR Hoshiarpur District is a district of Punjab state in northern India. Hoshiarpur, one of the oldest districts of Punjab, is located in the North-east part of the Punjab state and shares common boundaries with Gurdaspur district in the north-west, Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts in south-west, Kangra and Una districts of Himachal Pradesh in the north-east. Hoshiarpur district comprises 4 sub-divisions, 10 community development blocks, 9 urban local bodies and 1417 villages. The district has an area of 3365 km2 and a population of 14,80,736 persons as per census 2001. Hoshiarpur along with the districts of Nawanshehar, Kapurthala and parts of Jalandhar represents one of the cultural region of Punjab called Doaba or the Bist Doab - the tract of land between two rivers namely Beas and Sutlej. The area along with the Shivalik foothills on the right side of Chandigarh-Pathankot road in Hoshiarpur is submountainous and this part of the district is also known as Kandi area. The two rivers, Sutlej and Beas along with two other seasonal streams provide drainage to the region. Besides these, the Kandi region is full of seasonal streams. It falls into two nearly equal portions of hill and plain country. Its eastern face consists of the westward slope of the Solar Singhi Hills; parallel with that ridge, a line of lower heights belonging to the Siwalik Range traverses the district from south to north, while between the two chains stretches a valley of uneven width, known as the Jaswan Dun. Its upper portion is crossed by the Sohan torrent, while the Sutlej sweeps into its lower end through a break in the hills, and flows in a southerly direction until it turns the flank of the central range, and debouches westwards upon the plains. This western plain consists of alluvial formation, with a general westerly slope owing to the deposit of silt from the mountain torrents in the sub-montane tract. The Beas has a fringe of lowland, open to moderate but not excessive inundations, and considered very fertile. A considerable area is covered by government woodlands, under the care of the forest department. Rice is largely grown, in the marshy flats along the banks of the Beas. Several religious fairs are held, at Anandpur Sahib, Dasuya, Mukerian and Chintpurni, all of which attract an enormous concourse of people. The district, owing to its proximity to the hills, possesses a comparatively pg. 4 cool and humid climate. Cotton fabrics are manufactured, and sugar, rice, other grains and indigo are among the exports. Hoshiarpur is also known as a City of Saints. There are many Deras in this district. The District Govt. College was once a campus for Punjab University. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Hoshiarpur town is located in the North- East of the Punjab. It falls proximity to Shiwalik foot hills. The city is located on Jalandhar-Dharmshala N.H.70 at the Distance of 40 Km from Jalandhar and 135 Km from Chandigarh. Shiwalik foot rains at the distance of about 8 to 10 Km. to the North- East of the city. The Bhangi Choe and its branches flow through the city. As census 2001 the population of city was 1, 49,668 persons. Hoshiarpur is situated at North latitude 31’-35’-0” to 27’-30’-0”and East longitude of 75’-50-30” to75’-59’-0” with the general elevation of 299.03 m above the sea level .Hoshiarpur is also connected with Tanda, Phagwara, Garhshankar, Dasuya. It is also gateway to H.P. Distt. Dharmshala, Una, Hamirpur and others religious such as Mata Chintapurni Mandir, Dera Baba Badbhag Singh, Mandir Baba Balak Nath and etc. are connected to Punjab through Hoshiarpur. The area of present Hoshiarpur District was also part of Indus Valley Civilization. Recent excavations at various sites in the district have revealed that the entire area near the Shiwalik foothills was selected for habitation not only by the early Paleolithic man but also by those in the protohistoric and historic periods. In the explorations, seven early Stone Age sited a Atbarapur, Rehmanpur and Takhni, 30- 40 km north of Hoshiarpur District in the foothills of Shiwalik, have been discovered where the stone artifacts have been found. Besides these excavations, among the archaeological remains in the Hoshiarpur District, the remains of temples at Dholbaha, 24 km north of Hoshiarpur, and especially the local legends throw valuable light on the ancient history of the district. The legends associate several places in the district with pandavas. Dasua is mentioned in epic of Mahabharata as the seat of Raja Virat in whose services the Pandavas remained for thirteen years during their exile. Bham, about 11 km west of Mahalpur is said to be the place where the Pandavas passed their exile. Lasara, about 19 km north Jaijon, also contains a stone temple stated to date back to the pg. 5 time of Pandavas. According to the chinese pilgrim, Hieun Tsang, the area of Hoshiarpur was dominated by a tribe of Chandrabansi Rajputs, who maintained an independent existence for centuries before the Muhammadan conquest. In the Hoshiarpur District, Shiwaliks from Talwara on the Beas to Rupnagar on the Satluj have revealed the presence of Acheolian and Soanian cultures. From the shiwalik frontal range in the Hoshiarpur District, sixteen sites have been reported to have yielded Stone Age tools. Out of these, besides the Soanian tools, these sited in Hoshiarpur District have yielded Acheolian assemblage. The Atbarapur group has yielded a large number of Stone Age tools. This group consisting of Atbarapur, Rehamanpur and Takhni close to the dry beds of the choe are located at the foothills of the Shiwaliks, about 8 km north-east from the town of Hariana, Atbarapur has yielded 80 tools consisting of 9 hand axes, 19 cleavers, 17 pebble-tools, 28 flakes and 7 cores/core choppers. All the tools in the collection are either on flakes or cores. The raw material is quartzite of varying colures, viz. Green, blue, brown, etc. The tools are fashioned mainly out of fine to medium grained quartzite. In the recent archaeological excavations, some fine pieces of sculptures of Gandhara dating back to 1000 AD and after have been discovered hare. Dera Baba Charan Shah (Bahadarpur) Rani Di Smadh 9 .The archaeological explorations made during the recent years have revealed the antiquity of the Hoshiarpur District to the Harappan