Eastern U.P.: United Provinces of Agra and Oudh came into existence in the year 1902 after the reorganization of British territories in India. It was given the short name U.P. under the Government of India Act in 1935. Thereafter it continued under this name upto 1950, when it was renamed as Uttar Pradesh and the short name continued to be U.P.. At that time it was divided into nine divisions headed by commissioners and 48 districts placed in charge of collectors. Due to the proximity to the national capital at Delhi and construction of Ganga Canal and nine low head hydroelectric power stations on Ganga Canal, western part of U.P. which included Meerut and Agra divisions, got a head start in the development of agriculture, orchard plantation and small scale industries and local crafts. The soil was good, land was fertile and the people were hardy, leading to overall development and prosperity in the area. Eastern U.P. which included Allahabad, Faizabad and Banaras divisions was comparatively very undeveloped during the period. Agriculture was dependent on monsoon. Major sources of power were not available. Apart from some local crafts, the development of industries was almost non-existent in the region. The people living in rural areas were living in conditions of extreme poverty. Eastern U.P. has continued to remain neglected by the central authority at Delhi and successive governments of U.P. for decades.
Jaunpur: Jaunpur is located in eastern part of Uttar Pradesh now known as Purvanchal. Janunpur had a chequered past. Jaunpur is linked in mythology to rishi Jamdagni, who was the son of Brigu rishi and it is believed that at that time Jaunpur was known as Jamdagninagar, which became Jaunpur in course of time. Jaunpur has witnessed the rise and fall of a number of empires since then. Earlier records about the history of Jaunpur are not available. However, during the medieval period Sultan Feroz Shah Tuglaq occupied it in the year 1359 and named the territory as Jaunpur in the memory of his cousin Mohammad-bin-Tuglaq, whose family name was Jauna Khan. Later on Lodis occupied Jaunpur in 1493 followed by the Moghuls. Ultimately, Jaunpur became a territory of the British in the year 1779. The monuments scattered all over Jaunpur serve as reminders of the tears, toils and struggles of the people during intermittent wars for supremacy by kings, emperors, sultans and warlords.
Life at Jaunpur: We landed at Jaunpur in September 1949. Jaunpur was a small sleepy town at that time. River Gomti runs through the city and divides it in almost two halves. The western part of the town formed the old city. The eastern part of the town accommodated the civil lines and almost all government offices and residences. Ghaghra Canal Survey divisional office was also located in a palatial building in the eastern part of the town. We got a neat clean and spacious accommodation in the western part of the city to serve as our residence during our short stay at Jaunpur. The eastern and western parts of the city were connected through an old bridge across river Gomati. The bridge was built sometimes in the sixteenth century during the Mughal period and was known as Shahi bridge. It served as a reminder of the good old days and rich heritage of the town. Jaunpur Club, which was more of an officers club was located in the civil lines on the eastern part of the town. Jaunpur was a small district and the number of officers in the district at that time was very small. Jaunpur club provided an opportunity to all officers to meet and interact freely with each other on card tables, tennis courts and during other social programmes. Incidentally, some informal chats and contacts in the club were very helpful in times of need for smooth running and functioning of our field projects.
Ghaghra Canal Project: Most of the eastern part of U.P including Faizabad, Azamgarh, Jaunpur and Ghazipur had remained neglected for centuries and thereafter during the British period and subsequently after independence. The soil was good and fertile, but agriculture was dependent on vagaries of monsoon. Indo-Gangetic valley was well known as the food bowl of the country, since pre-historic times, due to the liberal availability of life giving waters of Sindh and its tributaries in the west and waters of Ganga Yamuna and its tributaries in the east. Ganga Canal system had completely transformed the lives and economy of the western districts of U.P. Ghaghra Canal was constructed sometimes in the early part of the twentieth century. Initially, it was a lift canal taking off from river Ghaghra at Ayodhya in Faizabad district and was intended to serve a limited area in Faizabad district. There was an acute shortage food and other essential items of consumption, throughout the country during the second world war. Consequently, grow more food campaigns and extension of irrigation facilities got a tremendous boost in the post war period before independence and after independence. Ghaghra was a major river of the north. During floods it played havoc with all lands through which it passed and during dry season the flow of the river remained untapped and unutilized. Ghaghra Canal Project was intended to extend the irrigation facilities to the parched lands lying in the lower reaches of Gaghra Ganga doab.
Ghaghra Canal Survey Circle: Ghaghra Canal Survey Circle was formed in 1948 for the conduct of preliminary surveys for the of extension of irrigation facilities to the lands lying in the lower reaches of Ghaghra Ganga doab. One of the divisions of Ghaghra Canal Survey Circle was located at Jaunpur. Jaunpur division had three sub-divisions. On reaching Jaunpur in September 1949 I assumed charge of one of the sub-divisions of Jaunpur division. The job involved procurement of village maps from tehsils and thereafter preparation of command area maps or shajra sheets by tracing village maps on sheets of long cloth, followed by intense field work for marking drainages and watersheds and grid levels on the shajra sheets. Thereafter, the contours of ground levels were interpolated on the shajra sheets. This was followed by marking the alignment and command areas of branches, distributaries, minors and watercourses. Further fieldwork followed for the preparation of longitudinal sections and cross-sections of all channels and for marking the position of outlets, culverts, bridges, falls, siphons, escapes, regulators and other permanent works. In the meantime, water requirements of outlets, minors, distributaries, and branches were worked out and the position of all outlets and permanent works were marked on the shajra sheets. Finally, the alignment and command areas of channels, position of outlets and permanent works were highlighted by stitching wool of different colours on the shajra sheets. The whole work involved long hours in the field, as also in the office. However, the contacts in the field with different types of people and different levels of people provided an excellent learning experience. More often, there was no time for rest or relaxation, but, the visions of water ultimately flowing to the remotest parts of the parched lands, was sufficient motivation and reinforcement for everybody to keep going.
Implementation: Projects are prepared with all the fanfare and sense of urgency. Foundation stones are placed and expectations of the people are pitched high. However, the execution of the projects on the ground commences after passing through all types of hurdles. Major projects take years and sometimes decades, before making a scratch on the ground. Ghaghra Canal Project was no exception. It took decades, but it is gratifying to find that ultimately, supplies have been augmented and water is finding its way to the parched lands of Jaunpur, Ghazipur and Azamgarh, ushering in tremendous change in the lives of the long neglected people.
Our family: Our mother breathed her last at Meerut in December 1942. Our father retired from his services from Bundi State in 1940. Thereafter, he got involved in contract business associated with military supplies and construction of temporary buildings for defence services during the war. He left work when I started working at Bulandshahr in July 1945. He started living with us at Bareilly, when I got married in December 1946 and continued to live with us till he breathed his last at Jodhpur in October 1979. It is difficult to have a proper realization of the contribution that parents make to the lives of children. They are always a source of great strength for the children. Their presence releases the children from all the day to day tensions and worries of the family and the household and in the process, the children find that they have all the time available to them for sustained devotion and dedication to the tasks facing them during their budding careers.
Mohan was our first child. He was two years old at Jaunpur. He was the centre of attraction for all members of our staff and visiting families and friends. He kept our father busy for most of the time and our father was for him, almost all the time. The children need almost whole time attention and incidentally, the grand parents have all the time and willingness to look after the children. Our second child Rashmi was born at Jaunpur in November 1949. We had good time at Jaunpur. The survey work at Jaunpur was almost drawing to a close, when our sub-division got marching orders for Banaras for picking up some more challenging jobs. We left Jaunpur, log stock and barrel and moved to Banaras in December 1950 with full complement of our staff.