Report on the Administration of the Punjab and its Dependencies, for 1897-98

· 1899 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1CHAPTER II—A.

2FAMINE

3NARRATIVE OF EVENTS.

4122, SHARAKPUR FAMINE.—Early in 1896 attention was drawn to the

5‘state of the Sharakpur Tahsil of the Lahore District, and towards the end of March

6relief works, the first started in the Province, were opened and remained open for

7five months until the following August. The scarcity in Sharakpur—it can hardly

8“be called a famine—was due to the failure of the fodder supplies and the conse-

9quent mortality of cattle upon which the population mainly depend, both as

10graziers and for the working. of the wells upon which the food supply of the people

11is grown. The distress affected a little more than half the tahsfl. When the

12people realized the impossibility of saving their cattle if they stayed at home,

13many families emigrated with their cattle and all their belongings to the Chenab

14Canal, the banks of the Ravi and Sutlej, and the submontane tracts of Sidlkot

15and Gurddspur. Many villages were left half empty, and in two only one family

16remained, It is estimated that over 1,700 families left the tahsfl. The popula-

17tion, as is usual in the case of cattle-owning tribes, are nomadic in character,

18and no permanent ill-effects are anticipated from this emigration. Throughout

19the tahsil, as in other tracts where this provision was called for, the Government

20forests were thrown open to grazing, and thougha good deal of damage to tree

21growth resulted, the fact that a considerable number of cattle were saved by this

22means amply justified the measure. Nevertheless the number of cattle that

23perished during the first-half of 1896 was very large, the estimate placing the

24mortality at 12,544, of which more than half were plough and well cattle. Relief

25works were started with a view to provide for those who remained in the tahsil and

26to prevent further emigration. The maximum number of persons relieved on any

27day, including dependents, was 10,945, or about 8 per cent. of the population of the

28tahsil, and the number of one-man-one-day units was 452,235. The cost of

29operations, which were carried out under the superintendence of an Assistant

30Commissioner as civil relief works, was Rs. 43,254. The closure of the works

31was directed when, owing to the exhaustion of the local programme, the relief

32workers, having been directed to proceed to the Gugera Branch of the Chenab.

33Canal, a distance of about 14 miles, where provision for their further employment

34had been made, refused to do so. The numbers had, however, previously been

35considerably reduced, and the occurrence at the time of some very heavy showers,

36which put the whole country under water and gave promise of a good fodder crop,

37confirmed the authorities m their decision to close relief operations. It was not

38found necessary thereafter to open any works in this tahsil. In fact the near-

39_proximity of the ordinary excavation work on the Gugera Branch of the Chenab