ORIGIN OF THE NAME
OF THE DISTRICT
The district derives its name from its headquarters town Fatehabad The
town was founded by Firuz Shah Tughlak in the 14th century. He named it after his son Fateh Khan, as Fatehabad.The Fatehabad district was
carved out of Hisar district on 15-07-1997.
Mr.P.C.Bidhan was the first Deputy Commissioner and Mr.Manoj Yadava
was the first Superintendent of Police.
LOCATION, BOUNDARIES, AREA POPULATION
Geographical
Profile
District Fatehabad is
located in the south western part of Haryana. It is surrounded by Punjab in
North, district Hisar in south, district Jind in East and Rajasthan
and district Sirsa in the West. The
geographical area of the district is 2520 sq.km. which is 5.4 % of the state
share.
Topography
The district Fatehabad is an alluvial
plain of Indo-Gangetic basin. There
is no perennial river flowing through the district only a seasonal river i.e.
Ghaggar is flowing through Ratia and Jakhal.
Bhakra and Western Yamuna are two main canals which irrigate most part
of the district.
Climate
The climate of the
district is of tropical type with intensively hot summer and cool winter,
with a temperature of 47 in June and 2 C in December and January. The average rainfall of the district is
400 mm.
Administrative set-up
Administrativelythe district is divided in the following
manner:-
Sub-Division
|
Tehsil
|
Sub-Tehsil
|
Blocks
|
|
Fatehabad
|
Fatehabad
|
Bhuna
|
Fatehabad
|
|
Tohana
|
Tohana
|
Bhattu
|
Tohana
|
|
Ratia
|
Ratia
|
Jakhal
|
Ratia
|
|
|
|
|
Bhattu
|
|
|
|
|
Bhuna
|
|
|
|
|
Jakhal
|
There are 243 habited villages in
the district as per service area allocation.
Population parameters
The various parameters in relation to population of Fatehabad district are as
under:-
|
Population as per 1991 census
|
638000
|
|
Population of Males
|
340000
|
|
Population of females
|
298000
|
|
Population in rural areas
|
524227
|
|
Population in urban areas
|
113773
|
|
Population density
|
256 per sq Km.
|
|
LiteracyRate
|
50 % Male, 26% Female
|
|
Population as Per 2001 Census
|
806158
|
|
Population of Males
|
427536
|
|
Population of Females
|
379622
|
|
Population of Children ( 0 - 6 Yrs old )
|
128111
|
|
Population density
|
318 per sq. Km
|
|
Sex Ratio of Female & Male
|
853/1000
|
|
Literacy Rate
|
58.17%
|
|
Literacy Rate ( Urban )
|
76.15%
|
|
Literacy Rate (Rural )
|
56.75
|
|
Sex Ration in Literacy
|
605
|
Infrastructure:
Development of an area largely
depends upon the availability of certain basic infrastructure like :-
a) Transport:
i)
Railways:
Tehsil Tohana and Bhattu Block of Fatehabad district is well connected by
broad guagerailwaywith Punjab, Delhi and district Sirsa.
ii)
Road Transport in Fatehabad district; there is a
net work of metalled roads which connect all its villages and towns. National Highway No.10 connects Fatehabad
with Delhi and Punjab.
b)
Electricity
and Power
All
the villages in district have been electrified since 1970. Haryana Electricity Board is providing
connections to the backward and economically weaker sections under a special
programme. A MOU has been signed with
an American firm to set up 1000 MW Thermal Power Project at Hisar (Near by
district).
c) Agriculture
Marketing
The district is well equipped with the marketing facilities.
There are 5 regulated markets with 7 sub yards. The proper storage facilities have been provided at all the
focal points.
|
Commercial Bank Branches
|
33
|
|
RRBs Branches
|
9
|
|
Co-operative Bank Branches
|
13
|
|
PLDB
|
4
|
|
HFC
|
--
|
|
Co-operative Societies
|
72
|
|
Post Office ( Including Hisar
)
|
314
|
|
Telephone Exchange (including Hisar)
|
20
|
|
TV relay centre
|
--
|
|
General Hospital
|
2
|
|
Primary Health Centre
|
12
|
|
Community Health Centre
|
4
|
|
Police Stations
|
8
|
|
Education
Institutions
|
208
|
There
are 3 Historical momument known as ‘Shershah Ka Kila’, ‘Idgah’ and Ashoka
‘Satambh’.
There are about 38 big industries having the
capital investment of Rs.85 crores and 8781 SSI units having capital
investment of about Rs.80 crores (including Hisar).Animal
Wealth of the district is murrah buffalow and dale sheep.
BLOCKWISE
INFORMATION
1. BHATTU
There are 28 inhabited villages in this block. Bhattu is a good Mandi linked with rail
and roads. Cotton, wheat, grams,
bajra, and rapeseed are the major crops grown in the block.
2. BHUNA
There
are 32 inhabited villages in the block .
Bhuna has a good Mandi and a Sugar Mill has since started
functioning. Cotton, wheat and
Sugarcane are major crops grown in this block.
3. FATEHABAD
Total
population of the block, as per 1991 census is 105004 covering 63 villages
and 23445 persons belong to SC/ST Category.
Fatehabad, as a semi-urban centre, has a population of 45500. River Ghaggar passes through this block enriching
its soil for the production of cotton, pulses and sun-flower. The ground water is comparatively better
than other parts of the districts and hence potential for tube wells
installation are available in the blocks, it is situated on the National Highway
No.10.
4. RATIA
Total population of the block, as per 1991 census, is 121753,
covering 72 villages and 46285 persons belong to SC/ST Category. Ratia is a semi-urban centre, has a
population of 176644, Soil of the block is enriched by the Ghaggar river,
which passes through this block.
Cotton, paddy and wheat are the major crops grown in this block.
5. TOHANA
Total population of the block, as per 1991 census, is
117299 covering 76 villages and 43097 persons belong to SC/ST Category. Tohana, as a semi-urban centre, has a
population of 34215. Paddy and wheat
are the major crops grown in the block.
There is good scope for fish farming in this block. It is situated on Broad-guage line and is
well linked with rail and roads.
1
Statis&al Abstract of Haryana, 1978-79, p. 17.
HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT AS AN ADMINI STRATIVE UNIT
AS A PART OF HISAR
The
first record of the administrative division of the district is found in
Ain-i-Akbri.1 Much of the area lying in the present Hisar district
was covered by mahals of Agroha,
Ahroni, Barwala, Bhattu, Tohana, Hisar, Fatehabad and Hansi. The mahals
formed part of Hisar Feroza Sarkar of the Delhi Subah.
With the decline of the Mughal empire,
the tract comprising Fatehabad district came under the control of
Marathas. The whole of Delhi
territory of which the tract formed part, was ceded by the Marathas to the
British in 1810. The Delhi territory
was divided into two districts, Delhi, directly under the Resident and the
outlying district including Hansi, Hisar, Sirsa, Rohtak Panipat and Rewari
under the immediate charge of an Assistant- to the Resident. Again in 1819, Delhi territory was divided
into 3 districts namely ; the central which included Delhi, southern district
comprising Rewari etc. and northwestern district comprising Panipat, Hansi,
Hisar, Sirsa and Rohtak. In 1820 the north-western
district was sub-divided into 2 separate districts, the northern and the
western. The western district included Bhiwani, Hansi,
Hisar and Sirsa and its headquarters were at Hansi. In 1824, Rohtak which had previously been under the western
district was constituted into a separate district to which Bhiwani was transferred. The headquarters of the district was
shifted from Hansi to Hisar in 1832.
'fhe district was then divided into 4 tahsils of Hisar, Fatehabad,
Hansi and Tosham. In 1837, Ratia and
Tohana parganas were added to the Hisar district and were formed into a
separate tahsil of Tohana. The Sirsa
tract was detached in 1837 from the Hisar district and placed under a
separate officer styled as the Superintendent of Bhatiana. The pargana of Darba and the pargana of
Rori were transfeffed to Bhatiana in 1838 and 1847 respectively. In 1852, the pargana of Ratia was
transferred from Tohana tahsil to Fatehabad tahsil and Barwala pargana was
detached from Hisar tahsit and was formed into a separate tahsil of Barwala
along with Tohana.
The whole of Delhi territory
alongwith districts of Bhatiana and Hisar were transfeffed to the Punjab in
1858 and the district of Bhatiana was re-named as Sirsa.
In
1861, Bhiwani tahsil was detached from Rohtak and added to Hisar district.'
The Tosham tahsil was abolished and added to Bhiwani tahsil in the same
year. The ffisar district gained 24
villages from Meham-Bhiwant tahsil of Rohtak district ; 18 villages including
the town of Bhiwani were added to the Bhiwani tahsil and 6
villages to the Hansi tahsil.
Besides, 5 villages confiscated from Nawab of Jhaijar and 12 villages
received from the Maharaja of Jind, were added to Bhiwani tahsil and Barwala
tahsil respectively.
----------------------------------
1.
Abul Fazi, Ain-i-Akbari (English Translation
by Col. H. S. Jarret) corrected and further annotated by Sir Jadunath Sarkar, Calcutta,
1978, Vol. 11, pp. 300-301.
November, 1884, the Sirsa
district was abolished and Sirsa tahsil with 199 villages and 126 villages of
Dabwaii tahsil were added to the Hisar district and formed the Sirsa
tahsil. In 1889, 15 villages, forming
a detached block known as Budhlada ilaqua,
were transferred from Kaithal tahsil to Fatehabad tahsil. The
Barwala tahsil containing 139 villages was abolished with effect from January
1, 1891 and its area was distributed between 3 contiguous tahsils, 13
villages going to Hansi, 24 to Hisar and 1.02 to Fatehabad.1 At
the same time 13 villages were transferred from Hisar tahsil to the BWwani
tahsil and a sub-tahsil was established at Tohana in Fatehabad tahsil.
A village from Fatehabad tahsil and
another from Sirsa tahsit were. transferred to Bikaner in 1905 and 1906
respectively. Again in 1910-11, the
district lost 2 villages to Bikaner.
In 1923, the Tohana sub-tahsil was transferred from Fatehabad to Hisar
tahsil.
No transfer of territory to or from
the district took place till the passing of the Provinces and States
(Absorption of Enclaves) Order, 1950, by which the erstwhile princely state
of Loharu was merged in the district and 15 villages comprising Budhlada ilaqua
were taken out of Hisar district and added to Bathinda district. In 1962, 3 villages were transferred from
Dadri tahsil of Mahendragarh district to Bhiwani tahsil.
The entire area of the district was
included in the new state of Haryana on November 1, 1966. In 1968, Sirsa tahsil was bifurcated into
Sirsa and Dabwali tahsit and Bhiwani bifurcated into Bhiwani and Loharu. In 1969, a village was transferred from
Dadri tahsil to Bhiwani tahsil. The
above administrative arrangements continued till 1972 when whole of Loharu
and Bhiwani tahsils, 32 villages of Hansi and 17 villages of Hisar tahsils
were excluded and included in the newly formed Bhiwani district.2
Tohana sub tahsil of the Hisar tahsil was upgraded to a tahsil in 1972. In 1974, 4 villages were transferred from
Hansi to Hisar tahsil, 18 villages from Hisar to Hansi tahsil, 2 villages
from Hisar to Fatehabad tahsil, 18 villages from Tohana to Fatehabad tahsil,
9 villages from Fatehabad to Tohana tahsil, 10 villages from Fatehabad to
Hisar tahsil, 3 villages from Dabwali to Sirsa tahsil and one village from
Hansi tahsil to Jind tahsil of Jind district. In 1975, Sirsa and Dabwali tahsils were excluded from the
district and a new district of Sirsa was carved out.3 Thus by the
end of 1978, the Fatehabad part of Hisar district comprised 254
-----------------------------------
1. Hissir District Gazetteer, 1915, p. 46.
Punjab Government Notification No.
697 dated the 17th November, 1890.
2. Haryana Government Revenue Department
Notification No. 6,050-E (IV)-72/ 45,723, dated December 22,
1972.
3. Haryana Government Revenue Department
Notification No. 4,139-E (IV)-75/1
26,094, dated the 26th August, 1975.
villages,
divided between tah-,ils of Fatehabad 166, and Tohana 86.1
TOPOGRAPHY
The
district is part of the alluvial or Ghagghar-Yamuna plain and its southern
and western portions mark a gradual transition to the Thar desert. The topographic pattern of the district
owes its existence to geomorphic processes having closer affinity with the
climatic aridity, both of the recent and past geologic periods.
Throughout almost the
entire district the dominant feature of topography is the occurrence of
eolian sand of variable shape and thickness overlying the Pleistocene
alluvium which becomes fewer as the eastern border of the district is
approached. The only variation from
this description is found in the north, a tract locally known as Nali. The mean attitude varies between 210 and
220 metres and it generally slopes from north-east to south-west with a
gentle gradient of 1 in 4000.
The district can be sub-divided
into following topographic units
(i) Sub-Recent alluvial plain
(ii) Late Quaternary to Sub-Recent sand
dune areas ; and
(iii) Plain with sand dunes.
Sub-Recent alluvial plain .-The plain locally known as
Nali occurs principally as floodplain sediments along the courses of the
Ghagghar and nonexistent course of the Joiya. It is gently sloping, trending northeast to south-west in
Tohana and Fatehabad tahsils. This
part of the district experienced a demographic and agricultural revolution of
significant magnitude during fifties.
Late Quaternary to Sub-Recent sand dune areas. - The
sand dune areas can be classified into conspicuous topographic units having
different genetic types of sand dunes-active, semi-active and fossil or
fixed. The active and moving sand
dune generally occurs along the western fringe of the district where the mean
annual rainfall varies between 200 to 250 mm. The vegetal cover is scant and it resembles the treeless
undulating desert, locally known as Bagar.
Exceptionally strong unidirectional south-west winds winnow loose sand
grains from the surface and transport the material to long distances in the
direction of the wind. in this process
1. Two sub tahsils, one at Ratia of
tahsil Fatehabad comprising 67 villages and the other at Adampur of Hisar
tahsil comprising 32 villages were created in 1979 vide Haryaua Government
Revenue Department Notifications No; 7,l95-E (IV)-79/46,999 and 7,195-E
(IV)-79/47,001. Dated November 21, 1979.
he
landscape configuration undergoes dramatic change and sand hills appear where
yesterday was a cultivated field.
Active sand dunes vary from uneven sand cover, sand hummocks to small
transverse dunes, some rising to about 2 metres above the surrounding
surface. At places, extensive grazing
and deterioration of scant Acacia vegetation on the slopes of stable sand
dunes has reactivated the dune building activity. The active and reactivated dunes are Sub-Recent in age.
Of great geomorphic
significance are the fossil or fixed dunes which generally lie athwart the
south-west winds. They occur as broad features in long narrow chains
but assume intersecting, forked, spiral and many other complex forms. They represent the eastward culmination of
an intense and wider influence of marked climatic aridity during the late
Quaternary. In comparison to the
other deserts around the world, the fixed dunes of Hisar district as also
those of Thar desert are characterised by a finer composition of sand
particles. The media grain size of the sand varies from 0. 13 to 0. 16 mm in
diametre. Almost all the fossil dunes carry a buried soil profile. The deeply
weathered soil profile, dark brownish to red in colour, is decalcified and
faintly acidic in nature which suggests two extremely dry phases separated by
a humid climatic phase in the late Quaternary period when the dunes were
formed.
Fossil dunes show
larger concentration in south and south-east of Fatehabad,
Bhattu-Badopal-Seeswal triangle south of Fatehabad, and south and south-west
of Tohana.. The dunes generally occur
as transverse. broad-based ridges possessing highly variable morphology. The relative relief of individual features
varies from under 3 raetres to over 15 metres. Some fossil ridges can be traced continuously for 12 kms. and
more. In area lying south of
Fatehabad ' fossil dunes generally occur in conjunction with active dunes of
variable thickness and geometric form.
Some ridges are up to 6 kilometres long and 15 metres high. A large number of dune and ridge crests
are within 2 metres from the surrounding area but relief differences of 5-7
metres are also common. In the Tohana
area, the sand forms occur in isolated small knobs, sand mounds and
protuberances which do not show any definite pattern of alignment with the
wind direction. A majority of dunes
are up to 2 metres high but some, such as south and west of Jamalpur, have a
relief of the order of 6 metres and above.
Plain with sand dunes.-The
plain locally known as Hariana is the largest topographic unit. It is the most important area of the
district
covering
the southern, part of Tohana tahsil, eastern part of Hisar tahsil and almost
the whole of Hansi tahsil. Sand dunes
and sand hills found scattered h re and there in the plain give it a broadly
undulating character. Patches of
older alluvium are either exposed or occur at shallow depths beneath a veneer
of sand in tals or topographic
depressions enclosed by fixed dunes.
RIVER
SYSTEM AND WATER PESOURCES
Ghagghar,
the largest seasonal stream in Haryana, enters the district as deeply incised
alluvial channel near Jakhal and makes an exit little to the west of Bira
Badi (Fatehabad tahsil) covering the distance in a meandering course some 70
kilometres long. The river maintains
a rough parallelism with most of the northern boundary, deviating from it by
a margin of some 7 kilometres and at times delineating the northern limits of
the district.
The
Ghagghar is a misfit stream since the scant volume of discharge stands in
marked contrast to its large channel width. The river drains large
volumes of floodflow during the rainy season mostly between July to September
and is generally dry in summer.
However, the inflow of ground water takes place till as late as
October.
According
to different explorers and scientists, the Ghagghar was once an important
river system of the north-western India during the 'Pleistocene period.1
t is believed that the river began to dry up first in the 11th
century and dried-up completely before the 13th century A.D. The hydrographic
changes since the historic time resulted in the depletion of discharge into
the Ghagghar channel. The Yamuna and
the Satluj which formed the eastern and western tributaries of once mighty
Ghagghar river system, deserted the parent river to join the Ganga and the
Indus systems. There is, however, a
snag as it fails to account for the five prominent non-cyclic terraces of the
Ghagghar near Panchkula (Ambala district).
The
Joiya takes off from the south bank of the Ghagghar about 8 kilometres north of
the district boundary at Phulad (Sangrur district Punjab). The channel makes snake like meanderings
and its supply has been seriously lessened by silting up of the head. It is said that it was much bigger than
the Ghagghar and use to flow through the district and on through Mansa tahsil
(Bathinda district-Punjab) into Sirsa district where it rejoined the
Ghagghar. Another dried up channel
known as Sukar or Sakru is indicated to the south of Joiya channel. The
1. O.H.K.Spate,,In4iaondPakistan,,1954,pp485-96.
old dried up courses of these streams run parallel to
the Cjhagghar and can still be traced-the land between them is known as Sotar
valley. The valley is 2 to 4 kms.
wide and even more at places. From
the appearance of the valley and numerous ancient mounds and remains of old
settlements all along its both banks, it is evident that at one time it
conveyed a much largervolume of water and probablywas thechannel of a
perennial stream.1 This may possibly be the dried up course of the
Sarasvati of the Rigvedic fame.2
The
Joiya stream had long ceased to carry water to Sirsa and onward and had
become very much smaller than the Ghagghar.
This is due in part to the silting up of the head of the former stream
and deepening of the bed of the Ghagghar and it was only in high floods that
water passed from the Ghagghar into the Joiya at Phulad. Initially, it is said, that Firuz Shah
Tughlaq channelled this stream up to Fatehabad town. Later during the 19th century, a Rangoi channel
to utilise flood flow of the Ghagghar was dug to connect the Ghagghar with
the Joiya and it ran from Qasimpur to Kalandargarh beyond which it ran into
the Joiya. Later, the old Joiya
channel below Kalandargarh was also canalized. The Rangoi Inundation canal is now used for utilising flood
flow of the Ghagghar for irrigating some areas in Tohana and Fatehabad
tahsils.
There
are two swamps, one at Musa Khera and the other below the town of
Fatehabad. These are not perennial and
get filled only in rainy season.
GEOLOGY
Hard
rock geology of the district is concealed under alluvial and aeolian
deposits. The alluvial deposits of
quaternary age are divisible as newer and older. The former usually
occurs in the active floodplain of the Ghagghar river, in the northern part
of the district and comprises sand, silt clay and occasional gravel. Calcareous concretions in various
proportions are found mixed with other constituents. The sediments are heterogeneous in character,
and are deposited on a basement of metamorphic and igneous rocks of
pre-Cambrian age. The bed rock
topography over which the alluvial deposits rest, slopes towards north-east. The maximum thickness of alluvium as
encountered in a borehole at Jhalnian (Fatehabad tahsit) is 345.51 metres
below ground level.
1.
Hisar District Gazetteer, 1915. p. 8.
2. R.S. @ht, Excavations at Banawali, 1974-77, Preceedings of the Seminar on Harappan
Culture in the Indo-Pak Sub-continent, Srinagar, 1978.
The jeolian
deposits comprising accumulations of sand blown from Thar desert of Rajasthan
are mostly confined to south-western part of the district. These sand accumulations occupy vast
stretches of land and occur in the shape of sandy flats, mounds and ridges at
places attaining dunal shapes over the sandy flats.
Mineral Resources
Kankar.-Kankar occurs at
several places in the sandy tract-, of the district. It is used for road metalling and as
building material.
Saitpetre.-Saltpetre occurs as
very thin whitish yellow, brittle encrustations over the soil, and along the
basement of kacha constructions in
some old and deserted villages. The
efflorescene normally appears during the hot months from April to June every
year. After the rains, it completely
disappears, being washed away in solutions, partly as run off and partly by
percolation down into the sandy soils where the nitrates perhaps got
denitrified. It is noteworthy that
the nitrates are mostly concentrated in the top soil only. Many refineries exist in the district for
extraction of saltpetre.
GROUND WATER
The sub-soil water of the
district is overall brackish. The quality of water 1
varies from place to place and from well to well. The sweet water is found from wells located in areas having
ameliorating factors like existing or old stream courses, long-standing
irrigation, seepage from kacha tanks, etc.
At some places wells situated on bare dunes of loose
shifting sands. yield good quality of water because most of the rain water
unable to flow, sinks underground to improve the groundwater by dilution.
The
extensive canal irrigation introduced by the Bhakra Nangal Project has caused
rapid changes in water table configuration.
The water level has risen by 2 to 7 metres in this area between 1974
to 1978. The water table is within 15
metres of the surface along the Ghagghar channel and in the command area of
the Ratia branch system- Here the ground water is fresh to marginal in quality
and extensively exploited for minor irrigation. The water level is up to, 15 metres deep in the central part of
the district. Elsewhere, the ground
water is very deep, 20..metres and more from the surface. The water is
saline and unfit for domestic consumption and agricultural purposes. With the lining of canals now in progress,
seepage from canals will drastically reduce, resulting in the slower rate of
accretion to ground-water resources.
SELSMICITY
According
to tectonic map, the district lies on Delhi-Lahore Ridge which is bounded by
thrusts. No earthquake of any
significance has originated in the zone in the past. It has, however,
experienced earthquakes originating in the great Himalayan boundary fault and
the Hindukush region. The notable Kangra earthquake of April 4, 1905
and Chamba earthquake of June 22, 1945 affected the district. The
maximum intensity experienced was VI M.M. 1 and the district has
been assigned to zone, 11 in seismic zoning map of. India. where the maximum seismic intensity may reach VI
MM. For important structures founded
on consolidated soil, a provision of horizontal acceleration of 4 per cent
gravity and its 50 per cent regarding vertical acceleration would ensure a
reasonable amount of safety.
FLORA2
The
forests of the district fall under the category of tropical desert thorn and
comprise predominantly of xerophytes.
Flora is scanty and sparse.
Tree species found in forests, cultivated fields, waste lands and
habitations arejand, rohera, khairi,
beri, reru, jal or van, barh, peepal,
- mesquite or pahari kikar, kachnar,
amaltas, lasura, imly, banna, etc. Shisham, kikar, siris, neem, bak-ain gulthohar. parkinsonia
eucalyptus, etc. have been planted along rail, road and canal strips and in
other private areas. Eucalyptus is
also planted in agricultural and under farm forestry scheme. The jand, farash, khairi, castor, kana and
ruhera have been planted to check soil erosion by high velocity winds.
Common
shrubs found are hins, bansa, panwar,
babool, itwilah, karir, phoa, khip and ak. Medicinal herbs found in the district are bansa, indirain,
asgandha, glo, kharuthi, bhakhra, dhatura, etc. Their collection becomes uneconomical because these are
available in scattered form.
The
important grasses found in the district are anjan, dhaman, dub, kana
and dabh. Anjan, dhaman
and dub which are
palatable fodder grasses are dwindling on account of uncontrolled
grazing. The grasses in waste, lands
are poor in quality and quantity.
Amarbel is a common
parasite.
1. M.M. intensity according
to Modified Mercalli intensity Seal 1931 denotes; felt by all; many
frightened and ran outdoors. Some
heavy furniture moved; a few instances of fallen plaster or damaged
chimneys. Damage slight.
2. The
botanical names can be seen in the table at the end of the chapter.
FAUNA1
Mammals
The district is
inhabited by a varied groups of animals.
Primates are represented by the rhesus macaque or bander and the
common langur.
Big
cats like tiger and leopard once abundant in the district are no more
seen. The carnivore found in the
district are : the jungle cat; :the small Indian civet; the common mongoose;
jackal and the Indian fox.
The
grey musk-shrew or chuchunder and
two species of bats, the common yellow bat and the Tickell's bat are usually
seen. The five stripped palm squirrel
or gilheri, the Indian porcupine or
sahi, the Indian gerbille, the
common house rat and the house mouse are the common rodents found. The Indian hare belonging to the order
lagomorpha is also found in the bushes.
Chinkara or ravine deer is seen in the
district but its number is decreasing.
Blackbuck and the, bluebull or nilgai are found in the district. These are more common near Bishnoi
villages where the shooting or killing them is prohibited.
Birds
Game birds.-A large number of
game birds, some of them residential are found throughout the year while
others are winter visitors. Various types of ducks and geese such as
eastern greylag goose, barheaded goose, Brahminy duck, common shelduck,
pintail, common teal, mallard, gadwall, wigeon, bluewinged teal, shoveller,
common pochard, ferruginous duck and tufted duck can be seen at the Ghagghar
and tanks during winter. Some other ducks such as comb duck cotton
teal, spotbill duck, large whistling teal, treeduck are found throughout the
year at suitable habitat. Dabchick is
also a residential bird.
Other game birds like
partridges and quails are also common in the district. Indian black partridge (the state bird)
and grey partridge are common. Grey quail is a winter visitor, while black breasted
or rain quail, jungle bush quail, whistler and rock bush quail, little
bustard quail, Indian yellowlegged button quail, Indian bustard quail are
resident species.
Sandgrouse,
namely the Indian sandgrouse, has been noted as
1. The zoological
names can be seen in the table at the end of the chapter.
resident
bird while large pintail sandgrouse, spotted sandgrouse, Imperial or
blackbellied sandgrouse visit the district in and small, regularly visit favourite
waterholes. winter Their. flocks, large and small, regularly visit favourite
waterholes.
Among pigeons and doves, Bengal green
Pigeon is found in the vicinity of villages chiefly on ficus trees and
blue rock Pigeon occurs in almost all the villages. Western turtle dove is a winter visitor. Indian ring dove, Indian red turtle dove,
Indian spotted. dove, Indian little brown or senegal dove and Indian emerald
dove are generally found in all cultivated fields.
Birds of Economic Importance.-Scavengers like pariah
kite, Brahminy kite, whitebacked vulture, king vulture, tawny., eagle,
greater spotted eagle, white-eyed buzzard eagle, house crow, Indian jungle
crow, etc. keep the district cleared of dead animals by feeding on them. The
Indian scavenger vulture besides feeding on dead animals, consumes a large
quantity of human excreta. Predators
like blackwinged kite, Indian shikra, laggar
falcon, shahin falcon, redheaded merline and kestrel die residential birds of
the district. Others like booted hawk
eagle, eastern steppe eager, pale harrier, montagus harrieri marsh, harrier, etc. visit the district in winter. These
along with spotted owlet, eagle owl and mottled wood owl keep a check on the
population of not only rodent pests
but also various insect pests by eating them.
The challenge of insect
pests is also met with by various insect eating birds, both resident and
migratory. Swifts, such as Indian house swift, Indian Alpine swift,
Indian palm swift and swallows like western swallow, Indian wiretailed
swallow and Indian striated swallow consume insects as their staple diet., I
Shrikes or butcher birds as they are popularly called, feed upon
insects. Shrikes found in the
district, are Indian grey shrike, Indian bay-backed shrike and rufous-backed
shrike. Other insect eating birds are
king crow, Brahminy myna, Indian pied myna, Indian myna, bank myna and
northern jungle myna. Babblers,
warblers and flycatchers of various species feed on different types of
insects. Larks and wagtails feed on a considerable amount of worms in
addition to insects. Rosy pastor and
common starling, both winter visitors may specially be mentioned for their
role in destroying numoerus insects including locusts on a large scale and
thus help in saving crops to some extent.
Colourful birds .-The colourful birds add beauty to the varied wildlife of the
district. The most common colourful birds are blue jay, northern green
barbet, coppersmith, northern goldenbacked woodpec-kers,
Indian golden oriole, large Indian parakeet, rose-ringed parakeet, pied
crested cuckoo, koel, common crow
pheasant, kingfishers such as small blue kingfisher, white breasted
kingfisher,, Indian pied kingfisher, redvented bulbul, whiterared bulbul,
verditer flycatcher, Indian magpie robin, Indian purple sunbird, latmunia, Indian spotted munia and crested bunting, etc. The national bird of India, the common
peafowl is quite common and is seen in orchards, fields and gardens.
Besides,
such attractive birds as hoopoe, Indian small green bee-eater, Indian
white-eye or baboona are also seen in and around villages.
Besides,
different types of storks, cranes, ibis and egrets, lapwings are also found
in the district. In the river-bed,
one can see various species of terns.
Reptiles
Snakes.-The poisonous snakes
like common Indian krait, Russel's viper, phoorsa
and other snakes like blind snake, Indian python, John's sand boa, wolf
snake, rat snake and sand snake are found in the district.
Lizards.-The
common lizards can be seen in the houses. kiria
or girgit is found in the lawns and
hedges and attracts the attention by changing its colours. Sanda
is found in sandy areas. Besides,
a few other types of lizards are found in bushes and areas of thick
vegetation.
Ainphibians
Tortoises.-Two species of tortoises
are found in the district.
Frogs.-The common frogs found
in the district are : Indian bull frog, Indian cricket frog, Indian burrowing
frog and common toad.
Fish.-The different water
courses of the district abound with many species of fish. The species
important from the point of view of food and game are : the
feather-back fish; parri, katla, mrigal, chunni, bata, siriha, roku, magur, singhara, ghally. mallee
and the snake-head fish, dolla and curd.
CLIMATE
The
climate of the district is characterised by its dryness and extremes of
temprature and scanty rainfall. The
year may be divided into four seasons.
The cold season from November to March is followed by the summer
-season Which lasts up to the end of June.
The
period
from July to about the mid of September is the south-west monsoon
season. The latter half of September
and October constitute the post monsoon or transitional period.
Rainfall.-Records of rainfall
in the district are available for five, stations for sufficiently long
periods. The details of the rainfall
at these stations and for the district as a whole are given in tables I and
11. The average annual rainfall in the district is 395.6 mm. The rainfall increases generally from the
west towards the east and varies from 339.1 mm at Fatehabad to 428.4 mm at
Hisar. About 71 per cent of the
annual normal rainfall is received during the short south-west monsoon
period, July to September, July and August being the rainiest months. There is significant amount of rainfall in
the month of June, mostly in the form of thundershowers and in the rest of
the year, there is very little rainfall.
The variation in the annual rainfall from year to year is very
large. In the 50 years period (I 901
to 1950), the highest annual rainfall which was 235 per cent of the normal
was recorded in 1977. The lowest
annual rainfall amounting to only 33 per cent of the normal was recorded in
1938. In the same 50 year period the annual rainfall was less than 80
per cent of the normal in 16 years and two consecutive years of such low
rainfall occurred twice. Considering
the annual rainfall at the individual stations, such low rainfidt in two
consecutive years is quite common in the district. Such low rainfall
has been r@ded 4 times at Fatehabad and Hansi, three times at Hisar and twice
at Tohana for two or more consecutive years.
Even 4 consecutive years of such low rainfall occurred once at all
stations in the district except Tohana.
It can be seen from table 2 that the annual rainfall in the district
was between 200 and 600 mm in 43 years out of 50.
On an
average there are 24 rainy days in a year.
This number varies from 21 at Tohana to 26 at Hisar.
The heaviest rainfall in
24 hours recorded at any station in the district was 346.7 mm at Hisar on
August 16, 1926.
Temperature.-There is a meterological observatory at Hisar and and rainfall data
collection at Fatehabad,Ratia and Tohana .The, records of this observatory
may be taken as representative of the meterological conditions prevailing in
the district in general. There is
rapid increase of temperature after February. The mean daily temprature in May, which is the hottest month is
41.60C. On individual days the maximum temprature during the summer season
may rise up to about 470 or 480C. The
hot scorching winds, which blow in summer add to the discomfort. Afternoon thundershower which occur on
some days bring welcome relief, though only temporarily.
the day time, but the
nights are even warmer than those during th c summer season. With the added moisture in the monsoon
air, th( nights are often uncomfortable.
After the withdrawal of the monsoon in the latter half of September,
the tempratures be-in to decrease.
The decrease in temperature is rapid after October and the drop in
temperature after nightfall is particularly trying. January is generally the coldest month with the mean daily
maximum at 21.70C and the mean daily minimum at 5.50C. In the cold season,
the district is affected by cold waves in the wake of passing western
disturbances and the minimum temperature drops down to about 3. 00 C
occasionally.
The
highest maximum temperature recorded at Hisar was 4.8.30C on May
30, 1944. The lowest minimum
temperature was 3.9,,C on January 31, 1929.
Humidity.-Relative humidity in
the moriiings is generally high during. the monsoon season and during
December to February, usually being about 70 per cent or more. Humidity
is comt)aratively less during the rest of the year, the driest part of the
year being the summer season with the relative humidity being about 30 per
cent in the afternoons.
Cloudiness.-During
the monsoon season, the skies are mostly moderately to heavily clouded. In the rest of the year, the skies are
generally clear or lightly clouded.
Cloudy skies prevail for brief spells of a day or two in association
with passing western disturbances in the cold season.
Winds.-Winds
are generally light in the district with some strengthen'ing in force during
the late summer and monsoon seasons.
During the south-west monsoon seasons while winds from the south-west
or west are more common, easterlies and south-easterlies also blow on some
days. ' In the post monsoon and
winter season while south-westerly or westerly winds are more common in the
mornings, northerlies and north-westerlies are predominant in the
afternoons. In the summer, winds are
more common from' the west or south-west in the mornings. In the afternoons, they are mostly from
directions between west and north-west.
Special weather phen
omena.-Some of the depressions which originate in the Bay of Bengal in the
south-west monsoon season, and which move across the central parts of the
country reach the district during the last,,stages of activity and cause
widespread raiii before dissipating.
An occasional post monsoon storm or depression also affects the
district.
Thunderstorms
occur - throughout the year but the highest incidence is during the
monsoon season. Duststorm3 occur
often during. the hot season.
Occasional fogs affect the district in the cold season.
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