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Agriculture |
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Garma
Garam
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Dr.
Karanjot Kaur Brar There
is a general tendency to associate any ecological damage with the
recent development process. The present study, however, holds a
different viewpoint. It believes that every region has an ecological
history and any damage to ecology has to be interpreted at three
levels. First, an area may be ecologically disadvantaged by reason
of its inherent physical conditions, such as, subsurface salinity of
water in Haryana. Secondly, an area may have been subjected to an
impact by some historical events. For example, deforestation during
the colonial time caused extensive soil erosion on the Morni hills
in Haryana. Finally, the ecology of an area may have been impacted
upon by some recent developments. Quarrying near Delhi, in Haryana,
causing dust pollution is one such case (Sangwan, 1991, pp.200-203). In
this light, it becomes necessary to take a note of the ecological
history of Punjab in a spatial perspective. For convenience of
discussion, the ecological history is organised into three periods:
the pre-colonial (prior to 1849, when the British took over Punjab),
the colonial (1849 to 1947) and the post-colonial (post 1947, when
India became Independent). The treatment of the last phase here is
limited upto 1966 as the later developments are detailed in the
chapters to follows. THE
PRE-CONONIAL PERIOD
Punjab
was a scene of one of the most ancient river valley civilizations,
the Indus, which dates back to about 2750 B.C. There is ample
evidence to suggest that forests existed here in far greater
abundance than at present. This facilitated the use of burnt bricks
in place of sun-dried bricks. The available timber was liberally
used for the purpose Punjab was a scene of one of the most ancient
river valley civilizations, the Indus, which dates back to about
2750 B.C. There is ample evidence to suggest that forests existed
here in far greater abundance than at present. This facilitated the
use of burnt bricks in place of sun-dried bricks. The available
timber was liberally used for the purpose (Piggott, 1950, p.137). It
caused considerable deforestation and devastating floods, and,
according to one theory, the loss of this civilization is
attributable to this factor. Punjab
moved on to a rural based society and economy after the end of the
Indus valley civilization, some time during 1700 to 1500 B.C. Most
of the population was concentrated in the rive rain tracts. The
yearly deposit of alluvium and easy water supply made cultivation
possible in these floodplains. The
discovery of iron around 1000 B.C. enabled the people to push
inland. Iron implements were in use by that time to clear vegetation
and extend cultivation. Areas with adequate rainfall and abundant
water supply were favoured. The interiors of the interfluvial tracts
were settled in the process. Subsequently,
artificial irrigation came to be practiced with the help of wells in
the foothill zone as also in the river valleys. Wells at that time
were just holes in the ground where water table was two to six
metres deep. Further away from the rivers, where the water depth
went down to 7 to 21 metres, wells with masonry lining were found (Trevaskis,
1928, pp. 9-11). Irrigation
received a boost around the 13th century A.D. when the
Persian wheel became increasingly popular in Punjab (Habib, 1969).
Irrigation was further augmented with the construction of the Shah
Nahr by Shah Jahan in the 17th century. Historically, the
Majha and the Bist doab regions were a greater beneficiary of
the extensions in irrigation through wells or canals. Forests
during the time of the Sultans (1206-1526) were more widespread than
at the time of the Mughals (1526-1761). There was a better supply of
firewood and timber to villages during the pre-Mughal period (Nijjar,
1968, p.124). Most of the villages were surrounded by a forest from
which they could get firewood or other such produce. Periodic
but regular invasions from the northwest had an adverse impact on
the ecology. The associated disturbances forced people to take
shelter in inhospitable tracts. A clear example of this is provided
by the anarchy and turmoil in Punjab during the eighteenth century.
The Sikhs were hunted lot at that time. They took refuge in forests
and engaged in guerrilla warfare. Some new areas were opened up for
cultivation. The combined effect of these two factors damaged the
forests and the wildlife (Gupta, 1952, p.28). Besides
the human impact, some ecological changes took place due to the
initiation of a phase of desiccation. The southern parts of Punjab
were affected in particular. Several ruins are found along the dry
bed of the Ghaggar river, which marks the southern boundary of
Punjab. Desiccation
represents a deterioration in the conditions of water supply in a
region. The cause for the above mentioned desiccation was initially
stated as the change in climate (The Pioneer, 1874, p.2). Piggott
(1950, pp.134-136) subscribes to the same view. He observes that the
change in climate was related to a general eastward shift of the
south-west monsoon zone. Some
scholars link this desiccation with the changes in the hydrology of
the region. The Ghaggar, which was a perennial river, became a
seasonal one consequent upon the capture of its tributaries by the
Indus system, as well as by those of the Yamuna. The
process of desiccation got accentuated by deforestation in the
Siwalik hills and the ensuing soil erosion. Also, sands from the
abandoned courses of some rivers, such as the Satluj, got scattered
over the once fertile lands. Over-grazing and over-cultivation are
also said to have contributed to the desiccation of this region. Thus,
we observe that the impact on the environment during this period
took place over millennia and it was mostly in the shape of
deforestation. This was mainly for extension of cultivable land. A
phase of any unsettled political conditions was also detrimental to
ecology. People sought refuge in forested areas and disturbed the
fragile ecological balance. Above all, a phase of desiccation,
associated with a change in climate and shifts in river courses, was
also responsible for causing a damage to the Punjab ecology.
Nonetheless all these changes were spread over a long period of time
and their effect was far dramatic. Population growth was slow and
had not started exerting its pressure on resources. THE
COLONIAL PERIOD The
coming of the British gave a new turn to the history of Punjab. An
era of political stability ensued and developmental activity was
started which was advantageous to colonial interests. This impacted
upon the ecology. The
period witnessed an introduction of a relatively advanced
technology. Extensive canal systems were raised and agricultural
frontiers extended. Railways were laid and some industry got
established. There was a greater use of wood for construction and as
an industrial fuel. CANAL
IRRIGATION After
their colonization of Punjab, the British followed a policy of rapid
agricultural development. Canal irrigation was a primary input for
that purpose. The Upper Bari Doab Canal was the first one to be
built in 1860-61. It principally aimed at generating employment to
rehabilitate the disbanded Sikh army personnel. It took off from the
Ravi at Madhopur to irrigate 526,084 hectares in the districts of
Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Lahore, the last district now being a part
of Pakistan. The
Sirhind Canal was completed by 1887. It irrigated 728,424 hectares
in the districts of Firozepur, Ludhiana and parts of the princely
states of Patiala, Nabha, Faridkot, Jind, Malerkotla and Kalsia. The introduction of canal irrigation had a two-fold effect: (i) it extended cultivated land at the expense of the forest land, and (ii) it caused water logging and salinity. These changes were first experienced in the area under the command of the Upper Bari Doab Canal. The water tale in Amritsar district rose by 5 meters in a span of about fifty years from 1865 to 1914. In 1925, the water table level was only 2.4 to 3 metres below the surface in the Amritsar district (Darling, 1947, p.72). Another consequence of this rise in the water table was the spread of malaria. The fever raised the morbidity level and caused mortality in several cases. DEFORESTATION It
is notable that factors leading to deforestation in the colonial
days contrasted with those during the pre-colonial period. In the
latter case, it was war and turmoil which led to the loss of
forests; in the former situation, it was peace which led to the
clearance of several forested pockets for agriculture, industry and
construction. The evolving scenario also led to a regular growth of
population. This, in turn, intensified pressure on agricultural land
and impelled encroachment on forests. Construction
of canals also required clearance of forest pockets. Increased
agricultural productivity through irrigation stimulated extension of
agricultural land, primarily at the cost of forests. Forest cover
was under attack for various reasons. Punjab had several rakhs (wastelands) during the British period (Government of Punjab, 1883-84, p.3). These were thickly wooded, mostly with dwarf trees and brushwood. Gradually a great reduction was experienced in their number and extent. In Amritsar district, for instance, the area of these rakhs had shrunk considerably etween 1860 and 1883-84. This was due to construction of canals and subsequent spread of cultivation. Rakhs were exploited also for supplying wood and fodder to the military farms. Some of these were distributed as bravery awards to native officers of the imperial army. This again saw their conversion into agricultural land. By 1914, the district presented a sparsely wooded appearance (Government of Punjab, 1914, p.1). By 1947, no forest worth its name existed in the district (Government of Punjab, 1947, p.162). A similar experience of deforestation was typical of the Bist doab. The region was known as the ‘Garden of Punjab’ by virtue of its fertile soils, fairly good rainfall and well irrigation (Banga, 1978). Its ecological personality changed over time. A
great damage to ecology was caused by deforestation in the Shiwalik
hills. These hills were originally covered by a scurb jungle and
were used by the local princes as hunting preserves. On acquisition
of these hills by the British, the land was allocated to various
villages and the brushwood and minor forests were declared to be
their property (Punjab State Archives, 1879, p.2). The fact that an
open mine of wealth existed in the shape of woods for anyone to tap
and a new market became available in the form of demand from the
Public Works Department, railways and urban industry, the temptation
to exploit the forests was great. Soon, the hillsides were stripped
of their cover. Wood for construction was supplied to the Railway
Company and the Sirhind Canal Works. Firewood was supplied to the
towns at Garhdiwala, Dasuya, Hariana and Hoshiarpur and fuel wood to
the industrial units. In
government enquiry at that time, it was ascertained that in 19
villages of the tract, 915 persons were making their livelihood by
cutting and selling firewood. The jungle at this time was sold very
cheaply and a banyan tree, a hundred years old, was sold to a
charcoal burner for just one rupee. The glass manufacturing industry
near Dasuya also consumed large quantities of firewood (Punjab State
Archives, 1879, p.7).As a result of this denudation, there was a
loss of topsoil. Shorn of their vegetative cover, these hills became
highly fragile under any action of water. Soil erosion became
rampant. One
consequence of all this was a change in the character of choes
(seasonal streams) emanating from the Siwalik hills. These choes were originally not destructive. Their contribution to the
soil fertility and moisture in the plains was significant. Due to
the denudation, these developed a tendency to expand their beds
horizontally in the soft strata rather than to cut deep vertically.
Loose sand from the hills was also carried by these onto the fertile
soil cover in the adjoining foothill zone. The area under choes in Hoshiarpur district was 19,508 hectares in 1852; that in Jalandhar district was 303 hectares in 1851. By 1884-86, the figures for Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar were 32,397 and 1,072 hectares, respectively (Punjab State Archives, 1879, p.4). One thousand village of the Hoshiarpur district and seventy villages of the Jalandhar district were affected by the devastation. This justified a reduction in the land revenue (Punjab State Archives, 1897, p.10). The
deforestation also had an adverse effect on water table in the Bist doab.
Many wells were reported to have dried up in Hoshiarpur and
Jalandhar districts. In one village alone, twenty wells were
reported to have gone out of use (Glover, 1944, p.21). All this impinged upon agricultural yields. Some farmers, especially in he foothill zone, began rearing sheep and goats. This in turn caused greater harm and did not allow the rejuvenation of forest or grass. A cycle of destruction had set in. WILDLIFE Another
impact of the colonial rule was seen in terms of the loss of
wildlife. The main cause for the extinction of lions and tigers from
Punjab was the hunting of these animals with firearms. The hunting
was indulged in extensively y he princes British officers. The
latter also contributed to the destruction of the wildlife by giving
rewards for the killing of snakes and other dangerous animals.
Leopards and wolves were frequently killed. The cheetah
disappeared from north India round about 1920. The main cause
for this was the decline in the population of its prey animals (Parshad,
1984, p.32). Thus,
the ecological damage during the colonial period could be associated
with deforestation and canal construction. Deforestation for
commercial wood was more typical of the Siwalik hills. Extensive
soil erosion followed when the loose material was carried by the choes
from the hills to the plains. This played havoc with the fertility
of the land. Meanwhile, canal irrigation, geared to raise
agricultural productivity, was not without its harmful effect of
waterlogging at several places. THE
POST-COLONIAL PERIOD Punjab
was partitioned at the time of India’s independence in 1947. An
immediate task was to rehabilitate displaced persons from Pakistan.
The Hindus and Sikhs had left behind 1,592,487 hectares of land in
Pakistan while the corresponding area left by the Muslims was only
991,010 hectares in the Indian Punjab. The Pakistani Punjab par-took
62 per cent of the area, 55 per cent of the population, and 70 per
cent of the canal irrigated land. The Indian Punjab inherited the
agriculturally less productive and food-deficit part of the old
Punjab (Randhawa 1986, p.iv). There was a very wide gap of quality
and quantity between the land that was lost and that which was
available. To give a reasonable compensation to the displaced
immigrants, cultivable land had to be extended. This could be done
only by clearing and forest pockets or reclaiming marginal lands. This
was done. Even sand dunes were leveled to extend cultivation in the
dry parts of the state. This took place in that part of Punjab which
constituted the Patiala and other princely states before
Independence in 1947. The extensive game sanctuaries of the former
princes were also reclaimed for agriculture. This caused some loss
of wildlife. Blackbucks, which were to be seen in their thousands
near Patiala, gradually vanished (Stracey, 1963). Consolidation
of landholdings was a major land reform implemented soon after
Independence. Several trees were cut and sold when the farmers came
to know that their land may change hands. There was a considerable
loss of trees on that count. Positive
gains of land consolidation were many. Among other things, it
stimulated tubewell irrigation. This mode of irrigation was a
pivotal factor in promoting the Green Revolution wherever canal
water was not available. Tubewell sites where often given some tree
plantation. Efforts
were also made to intensify agriculture through multiple cropping.
This was possible only through irrigation. After partition, Punjab
was left with two canal systems — the Upper Bari Doab and the
Sirhind Canal. Steps were taken to increase their discharge. More
significantly, the Bhakra Canal System was laid during 1948-63. It
had three components: (i) construction of a new Bhakra Canal, (ii)
augmenting the capacity of the old Sirhind Canal and (iii) laying
out of the Bist Doab Canal. By
1966, Punjab had 52.9 per cent of its net area sown under
irrigation. It ranked first in India; the Indian average being 19.5
per cent. Of the net irrigated area at that time, 57.8 per cent was
served by canals, 39.5 per cent by wells / tubewells and the
remaining 2.7 per cent by other means, such as traditional Persian
wells, ponds and rivers. The
extension of the canal network resulted in serious waterlogging
conditions in Punjab during the fifties. About 1.6 million hectares
had a water table within 1.5 metres from the surface. Anti-waterlogging
measures were adopted by way of laying out a network of drainage
channels. This reduced the waterlogging menace to some extent.
Saline soils were also reclaimed in some areas. Thus,
the 1947-1966 period was momentous in the ecological history of
Punjab. Landholdings had bee consolidated and cultivated land
extended. A remarkable increase in irrigation, by both canals and
tubewells, laid the foundation of the ensuing Green Revolution which
was based on the inputs of irrigation, chemical fertilizers and
high-yielding variety of seeds. In the process, there was a loss of
tree cover and wildlife. CONCLUSION
The
ecological history of Punjab lends itself to a tripartite
periodisation: pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial. During the
pre-colonial period, technology was at a low level, and the damage
to ecology was minimal, imperceptible and spread over centuries. Any
ecological deterioration was associated mainly with three factors of
desiccation due to disruption in hydrological regimes; clearance of
forests for extension of cultivable land; and political instability
impelling people to take refuge in forests, thereby disturbing the
fragile environmental balance. Ironically,
political stability and peace during the colonial period proved a
greater threat to ecology. There was a considerable input of
development in the form of new canals, agricultural colonisation,
railways, some industry and construction in general. Its greatest
impact was seen on forests. These were cleared to extend the
frontiers of cultivation and were cut to supply wood for a variety
of purposes. Deforestation led to extensive soil erosion. Meanwhile,
canal irrigation caused waterlogging in several parts of Punjab. The initial phase of the post-colonial era also began with heavy demands on ecology. Two problems sought immediate resolution: reclamation of any suitable land for agriculture to rehabilitate displaced persons from Pakistan and conversion of the deficit in food production into surplus. Towards these goals, new lands were opened up and canal systems built. Problems of waterlogging and salinity followed. Likewise, consolidation of landholdings was a commendable reform but it also prompted cutting of trees standing in the fields. Agricultural developments during the first two decades after Independence, of course, laid the foundation of the forthcoming Green Revolution.
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