Indo Gangetic Plains: Himalayas with all its mountain ranges is sitting right on the top of India, while the Deccan Peninsula occupies the southern triangle from sea to sea. The area lying between the foothills of Himalayas and the Deccan plateau is in the form of a big trough. It extends from Arabian Sea in the west to Bay of Bengal in the east. It is popularly known as the Indo-Gangetic Plain or Indo-Gangetic River Basin. Indus and its tributaries rise from the Himalayas and after flowing in the mountaneous areas, from east to west, they start flowing in south westerly direction, ultimately falling into the Arabian Sea. Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries also rise from the Himalayas and after emerging into the plains, they flow in the south easterly direction , ultimately meeting the Bay of Bengal. During the floods, the overflowing rivers bring a lot of organic matter and fine fertilizing silt from the mountains and deposit it in the plains. As such, the Indo-Gangetic plains are very fertile and provide excellent opportunities for agriculture, horticulture, cattle breeding and orchard development. From times immemorial, Indo Gangetic Valley has been the cradle of some of the most flourishing civilizations and has witnessed the rise and fall of several powerful empires.
Ganga Yamuna Doab: Ganga Yamuna Doab is the area lying between the flow paths of rivers Ganga and Yamuna. It covers most of the western districts of Uttar Pradesh. The alluvial soil of the doab is very fertile and is saturated to a depth of 300 feet by sub-soil water. The ground water level is generally very high, which has facilitated the development of hundreds of thousands of open wells, tubewells and hand pumps in the area for the supply of water for drinking and for irrigation. Ganga Canal flows through this doab transporting the Himalayan waters to the remotest corners of the doab from Haridwar to Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Kanpur and Allahabad. Nine falls on Ganga Canal have been utilized for the generation of hydro-electric power, facilitating rural electrification and ready availability of electricity in all cities and villages. This has provided a tremendous boost for the development of industries, cultivation of high yielding commercial crops, dairy farming and orchard development. People of the area are hardy, happy and prosperous and have converted the doab into a granary of the north.
Bulandshahr: Bulandshar is a comparatively small district flanked by Meerut on the north-east side and by Aligarh on the south east side. It lies between north latitudes 28o4’ and 28o and east longitudes 77o and 78o. Bulandshashr has pre-historic links, with its proximity to Hastinapur and Indraprasth, the capital cities of Pandavas. It derives its name from “buland” or high ground on which, it happens to be built. It stands at 237 metres above mean sea level. During the British period the development of infra-structure was extremely limited. Under the context, the construction of Ganga Canal by East India Company during the period 1942 to 1954 was a very commendable piece of development, which touched and transformed the lives of people living in the western districts of United Provinces. The moving spirit behind the project was Col Proby Cautley, who could visualize that a 500 mile long canal was feasible in Ganga Jamna doab and who saw the project through, from initial surveys to its construction and completion under all odds, limitations and financial and administrative constraints. Bulandshashr district was one of the beneficiaries of the project. During the British period the generation of power was mostly limited to electrification in cities and was handled by private companies. There were very few industries and the domestic use of electrical gadgets was nominal. Under the context the construction of nine low head hydroelectric power stations on the falls of Ganga Canal in the early part of the twentieth century was also a very significant step, that provided impetus to the process of gradual development of industries in the area covered by the doab. As times rolled on, another visionary propped up on the scene. This visionary was Sir William Stampe, who happened to be the Chief Engineer of Irrigation Department of United Provinces from 1937 to 1939. He could see that due to lack of infrastructure, the overall growth and development in the state was stunted and the full potential of hydro-electic power available from Ganga Canal power houses was not being utilized. He could also see that in spite of the large areas covered by Ganga Canal for irrigation in the doab, it was not possible to provide canal water to substantial tracts of high lands and isolated pockets. Since, surplus hydroelectric power was available, he pushed through a project for the development of 2000 state tube wells in the doab. This was the first state tubewell project in the country at that time. It helped in integrated development of irrigation facilities in Ganga Yamuna doab and also helped in keeping the problems of water logging in check.
Strainer Wells: Alluvial soil of the doab is formed by clay, silt, sand and gravel deposited in the valley by the overflowing rivers. Sand and gravel are highly porous materials and the water seeps through them freely. Thick layers of sand and gravel formations supported on clay or layers of other impervious materials form an unlimited source of ground water. Ganga Yamuna doab was full of such water bearing formations. The state tube wells project was designed to tap this natural resource. These tubewells were normally drilled to a depth of 250 ft to 300 ft. As a policy, water was not tapped from the top 100 ft of the soil to ensure that the open wells and soil moisture in the irrigated areas were not affected. As such, blind pipes were placed in the top 100 ft depth of the wells. In the lower portions, strainers were placed, wherever good waterbearing formations of coarse sand and gravel were available. The rest of the length, passing through silt, clay and other impervious formations was blocked by placing blind pipes. Normally the total length of the strainer pipes used to be 100 ft with a diameter of 6 inches. The average discharge used to be 1.25 to 1.5 cusecs or about 20000 to 30000 gallons per hour capable of meeting the irrigation requirements of about 100 acres of land.
Cavity wells: Cavity wells were extensively developed in Bulandshahr and other western districts of U.P. Wherever, rich water bearing aquifer of coarse sand and gravel was covered by thick impervious layer of clay and other impervious materials, drilling was done through the impervious layer and a cavity was developed below the impervious layer, by gradual pumping from the water-bearing aquifer of coarse sand and gravel. The.impervious layer served as a roof over the cavity. No strainer was needed for these wells. Blind pipe was placed upto the bottom of the impervious layer for pumping water. Suitable formations for the development of cavity wells were available at depths of 150 to 200 feet. The diameter of the blind pipe for the cavity wells was 6 inches and the average discharge was from 1.25 to 1.5 cusecs, almost the same as that of strainer wells.
Assignment as an engineer student: After graduating as a civil engineer from Roorkee, my place of posting as an Engineer Student was in Tube Well Division of Bulandshahr. I joined my duties at Bulandshahr in July 1945. The division was headed by an officer of the rank of an Executive Engineer who was a civil engineer. The division had two civil sub-divisions and and one electrical and mechanical sub-division. Civil engineers headed the civil sub-divisions and were responsible for survey, design and development of the tubewells and watercourses and subsequent management of irrigation facilities. Drilling operations and maintenance of electric motors and pumps were looked after by electrical/mechanical subdivision, which was headed by an electrical and mechanical engineer. That was the time, when electrical and mechanical engineers had a supporting role. This is a reflection of the lack of development of power, industries and other infra-structure in the country at that time. My job in the tube well division was mostly related to the study of the drilling charts, study and analysis of samples of clay, silt, sand and gravel obtained from drilling operations and to review the preliminary designs of strainer wells and cavity wells in the division. Initially, the people were skeptical about the utility of tube wells and were reluctant to allow drilling for tube wells in their area, because they had a feeling that, if water is pumped out from the sub-soil, soil moisture and fertility will suffer. However, as the tube well project made headway, there was cry for more tubewells. Tube wells were able to bring all unirrigated lands, isolated plots and high level areas under cultivation and were more reliable and handy than all other sources of irrigation.
Bulandshahr in the aftermath of the war: Second world war had ended in Europe. People had gone through all types of constraints and hardships during the war period. All essential items of daily consumption were rationed. Mediterranean sea remained closed to general traffic during the war and the ships from Britain had to circle round Africa, through Cape Of Good hope for reaching India. Since, defence supplies enjoyed all the priorities, the common man had almost no option, but to keep waiting. The state of development during the British period was very lop-sided. There were hardly any avenues for growth and development and people had got used to the conditions of scarcity, lack of opportunities, unemployment, under-employment and abject poverty. The population of the country was about 40 crores at that time and hardly 1% of the population could be considered as well off and affluent. Bulandshahr was a small district, situated slightly away from the lime light and therefore, the city of Bulandshahr continued to remain neglected, static and primitive, almost untouched by the winds of change and development.