Punjab District Gazetteer Vol Iii A.

· 1911 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1118

2Rodtak Distbiot ] [Past

3rffAP TT A AJ) to diTrrt -water to Delhi from the old channel eonstniotcd for

4— r the imgaticm of the hnnimg ground of Himot Tlrou Seeking to

5lSSS?*oniil himself of the fonnor Imo as far as possible the great

6IrrittUoa* oDgincor took bia canal oat of that dog more than 260 years

7boiOTO him at Joahi and followed the natoral depression of tho Nai

8Isaddi to Qohana, from which point ho tamed off m a south-east

9direction to Jatolii below Kharkhanda, a Imo that may still bo clearly

10traced tbroogh the villages of Rabrnh, Katwal, Bhoinswal ^alan,

11Farmonah, Bidhlani and Khandab

12Tho ohgnmont was faulty and tho works bolow Qohana by

13which tho water was dirorted from tho depression end sent cast

14on ono occasion garo way involving tho disaster noted in Chapter

15I In oonacquonco of this a now hno to tho east was dog for

16the Delhi Canal, and Rohtak was served by a branch canal After

17fertilising tho country for 120 years tho Rohtak canal, which

18under tho Mnghals o^ndod only os far ns Qohana, ceased to

19flow nboQt 1700 A.D^ amid the chaos of tho dissolving empire,

20In 1705 the canal which according to Qcorgo Thomar momoira

21had brought in an annual roronno of H lakhs, was described as

22"out of repair, dned op and m many places almost destroyed”

23It was spoken of rogrotfolly then ns tbo whr t-HAi#At, tho

24caoal of parodiie iratcrwaa first restored in 1821, and four

25years Ister tho canal was pro^rly repaired and extended in 1881

26to the town of Rohtak. It nas nm without intemption smeo

27then and during all tbo mad folltos of tho sommor mouths of

281857 no one attempted to destroy tho esnah Shortly after it

29was ro-oponod tho famine of ISBb-S^ gave nn immonso impnlso

30to imgattoQ ond a second dronght in 18S7 38 led tho people to

31tom tneir attention to tfao ponnanent nso of tho water of tho

32canal

33Rat tho nahr iAiiHUhtt ns it was called in fond recollection,

34soon earned o different ropatntion after it was ro-opened. Tho

35alignment was alill faulty, ood made m tho valleys tho dmmngo

36of thoconotry was block^ From 1840 to 1870 ono commission

37after another reported on tho resallant ovils of this alignment on

38tho malnna ongendorod, on tho nmvorsal provnlonco of enlarged

39spleens on tho atcnlitj of tho women ond the iropotcnco of

40tho men on tbo cjccjsivo morfahty csnocmlJy among infanU

41and cm the rapid dotenomtion of tho soil by rrater logging and

42the spread of falls. A ve^ good account will bo found m

43raragraphi )59 to 170 of the Karnal Scttlcmoot Report of 1888

44Tbonffh the cm! was never so groat m Robtak as it was m Karaal

45and Delhi which wore nearer to the main lino and received

46far moTo imgalioo, tbo following figures from tho reports of

471847 and 1867 show how rapidly tho water level iw, nod