BULDHANA

GENERAL

GEOGRAPHY

[The section on Geography is contributed by Prof. B. Arunachalam, M. A.,Geography Department, Bombay University, Bombay.]

Situation.—BULDHANA, THE WESTERNMOST DISTRICT OF THE VlDARBHA OR THE NAGPUR DIVISION OF THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA, lies between 19°51' and 21°17' N. latitude and 75°57' and 76°59' E. longitude.

It is bounded on the north by the East Nimar district of Madhya Pradesh, on the east by the Akola and Amravati districts, on the south by the Parbhani district and on the west by the Jalgaon and Aurangabad districts. The district has a total area of 9745 square kilometres (3761 square miles) and a population of 12,62,978 according to the 1971 census, distributed among 9 towns and 1,232 inhabited villages. The district area forms 3.17 per cent of the total area of the State but has proportionately a lesser share of the population, only 2.51 per cent.

The name of the district is derived from the district headquarters. Buldhana is probably a corrupt form of Bhil Thana, [Central Provinces District Gazetteers; Buldhana District, Vol. A; 1910, P.402.] the place of Bhils.

Administrative Changes.—The district of Buldhana has been evolved by grouping together parts of West Berar, East Berar, and Basim district. The tahsils of Malkapur, Chikhli (formerly known as Deulgbat) and Mehkar were separated from the West Berar district in 1864 and were grouped to constitute a district, clumsily named as the South-West Berar District but later renamed as the Mehkar district with its headquarters at Mehkar. Three years later, in 1867, the administrative headquarters was shifted to Buldhana and the district was once again renamed as the Buldhana district. A new tahsil, viz., Khamgaon, was created in 1870 by separating some villages from the Balapur tahsil of the Akola district. In August, 1905, subsequent to the amalgamation of Berar with Central Provinces and reconstitution of the district boundaries, the tahsils of Khamgaon and Jalgaon from the Akola district were added to the Buldhana district and since then, the boundaries of the district have remained more or less stable. In 1956, the district was transferred from Madhya Pradesh to the erstwhile Bombay State as a result of reorganisation of States and since May, 1960 the district forma part of the State of Maharashtra.

TABLE No. 1

ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP OF BULDHANA DISTRICT, 1971

For administrative purposes, the district is at present divided into 5 tahsils. The area, number of inhabited villages, number of towns and the tahsilwise density of population are given in Table No. 1.

Boundaries.—The northern boundary of the district, that separates it from the district of Nimar in Madhya Pradesh, lies mainly along the crest and scarp edge of the Satpudas. It mostly lies at a height of about 600 m. The trijunction between Jalgaon, Nimar (M. P.) and Buldhana districts lies to the north-west of the forest village of Wadhwanol in the Raipur reserved forest at the Chandgarh peak (743 m). From here, the boundary runs east-north-east for about 4 km along a minor watershed till another peak, 557 m is reached, and then turns north to run across a valley to once again follow another watershed eastwards. The entire northern boundary, in this fashion, runs along watersheds and crestlines leaping across valleys to reach peaks on the opposite side of the valley. In general the boundary fairly closely follows the watershed between the Purna tributaries draining south and the Tapi tributaries draining north, turning alternatively northwards and eastwards and running straight, as the crow flies, between high peaks till the deserted forest village of Kille Pimpaldol is reached. Thereafter, the boundary runs northwards for about 25 km keeping the Ambabarwa reserved forest to its east. Then the boundary turns east and runs for about 8 km before turning south and south-east, thereby enclosing within, the Ambabarwa forest reserve. The boundary on descending down the scarp, joins the Banganga river, and follows it, separating the district from Amravati.

Following the Banganga, just 3 km above its confluence with the Arnadi, the boundary runs southwards along the river keeping to its west the Buldhana district and to its east the Akola district. About 4 km south of the market village of Danapur, the boundary deviates from the river and runs southwards in general for about 30 km across an undulating interfluve and joins the Purna. From here, the boundary follows the bed of the Purna down stream (westwards) till its confluence with a left bank tributary, the Mun river, and then follows the Mun south-eastwards initially and then southwards deviating from the river here and there till it reaches the confluence of two source tributaries, the Torna and the Vishwamitri. The boundary then essentially follows the Torna westwards till the foot of the scarp of the Buldhana plateau. Then, the boundary skirts the scarp south-eastwards, initially along its lower edge and later on along its crest. After reaching the crest and following it for some distance, the boundary turns south-west and west and cuts across the Penganga close to the village of Sonali in Mehkar tahsil. It then runs across the Penganga-South Purna (Katepurna) interfluve till the village of Medhi is reached. At the south-eastern extremity of this village lies the trijunction between the districts of Buldhana, Akola and Parbhani. After this trijunction, the boundary runs westwards across the same interfluve till reaching the village of Kesari on the northern bank of the Purna river. then, the boundary follows for a short distance the river, till reaching the village of Sangphul and then cuts across the river to enter into the Katepurna Dudna interfluve, and follows the watershed-cum-southern scarp edge of the Buldhana plateau. Beyond the village Nimkhed, 10 km south-west of Sangphul, lies the trijunction between the districts of Buldhana, Parbhani and Aurangabad. From here, the boundary runs west and north-north-west till the township to Deulgaon-Raja in Chikhli tahsil is reached. Therafter, the boundary runs north-east across the plateau top following minor streams here and there, cuts across the Katepurna once again and follows its tributary, the Madanaindadi for some distance. The entire southern and south-western boundary in general follows the Buldhana plateau edge and then descends the northern scarp of the same plateau into the Purna valley. Here, the boundary runs straight north across a gently sloping terrain till reaching the Purna river. It then follows upstream the river till its confluence on its right bank with a small stream—the Wahi nadi near the village Isarkher. Then, the boundary follows the Wahi nadi till it reaches the peak Chandgarh.

Physical features.—Topographically, the district falls under three structural-cum-physical units: a narrow, northern strip in the Jalgaon thasil in the Satpuda hills, the Payanghat or the Purna plains in the middle comprising the tahsils of Malkapur, Khamgaon and Jalgaon, and the Buldhana plateau comprising the Chikhli and Mehakar tahsil to the south. The landscape in the district is rich and varied, with gently sloping fertile riverine plains studded with agriculturally prosperous villages standing in sharp contrast to the flat undulation plateau country with patches of cultivation, broad open river valleys and a monotonous scrub cover. The ghat country, deeply scoured by gullies and ravines on the edge of the plateau and the sheer black walls of the Satpuda scarps to the north add color to the variety of landforms.

Hills.—The district has no mountain system of considerable magnitude except for the area which lies in the north in the Gawil-gadh hills or the Satpudas. Parts of the Buldhana plateau have hills rising to about 500 m.

Satpudas: The average elevation of the Satpudas in the northern part of Jalgaon tahsil of the district ranges between 700 and 1.000 metres, with three high peaks: the Chandgarh, 743 metres high in the north-westerncorner, the Dhormoria peak, 837 metres high near the village of Bhimgara in the Raipur reserved forest area and an unnamed peak with an altitude of 928 metres overlooking the deserted village of Kille Pimpaldol.

The part of the Satpudas that lie in the district consists of high level buttes and mesas and the south facing scarp and cliff slopes that descend through sheer vertical drops of about 500 meters in most places. The scarp edge is almost straight running in an east-north-east, west-south-west direction. Along the scarp face stands exposed series of horizontally bedded basaltic lava sheets of varying thickness and the intervening ash and intra-trappean beds. The long mural escarpment is strongly suggestive of a fault plane of late Tertiary or early Pleistocene. The trap beds have a slight northward dip and in many places consists of excellent solid basalts developing columnar joints. The entire scarp face is scoured by numerous rivers and gullies that drain southwards, though in places the drainage reveals a coarse radial pattern. A number of high level plateaus, the largest of which in the district is the one on which Bhingara village is located, are found at an average elevation of about 750 metres, and these are highly suggestive of a summit plane mostly eroded and denuded by subaerial agencies.

Ajanta range: The Ajanta range carrying on its flat top, the high level mesa of Buldhana plateau covers the southern part of the district. The edge of this plateau, overlooking the Purna plains to its north, is a hilly ghat country at average elevations of 500 to 600 metres. It is an escarpment less well-defined than the Satpuda scarp. It has a curving trend from west to east, to southeast. It is also believed by geologists to be a fault scarp. The bend in the escarpment is probably due to active recession of the fault scarp due to subaerial denudation. The scar edge is at a higher elevation in the west adjoining the township of Buldhana about 600 m and gradually falls in height eastwards to about 500 m along the eastern borders of the district. Like the Satpuda scarp, it is also well dissected by gully erosion and ravine formation.

The southern edge of the Buldhana plateau descending to the floor of the Dudna and the Godavari valleys is much less imposing, partly on account of gentler slopes and partly due to a lesser fall in height to an extent of 100 to 150 m. However, this edge has a number of low hills and knolls rising above the general plateau level.

A ridge of low hills runs at an elevation of 700 to 800 m from north-west to south-east and about a hundred metres above the general plateau level, broadly dividing the plateau into a Northern Penganga valley and a Southern Katepurna valley. This low flat-topped watershed gradually loses elevation eastwards.

Plateaus.—The Buldhana plateau on the crest of the Ajanta range in the southern parts of the district at an average elevation of 600 to 800 metres sloping to the south-east is the only large plateau. Differential subaerial erosion of the horizontally bedded traps particularly in the western parts, namely, the Chikhli tahsil, has divided the area into a number of plateaus at different levels with fairly steep slopes in between.

The Purna plains or the Payanghat is the main low land region of the district average elevation of which ranges between 250 and 270 metres. The slope is extremely gentle, towards the west. On an average, it is about 50 to 60 km broad. Bounded to the north by the Satpuda scarps and to the south by the Ajanta scarp, the Purna valley is believed to be a graben floor developed as a result of sag faulting during the recent past. The infacing scarps are suggestive of this view. The valley floor is alluvium infilled. The thickness of the old alluvium above the rock basin in many places exceeds 400 metres. The plain gradually narrows down to the west, as the Ajanta range approaches closer to the Satpuda scarp.

Rivers.—The two main rivers of the district are the Penganga and the Purna. The other but less important rivers are the Kate-purna, the Nalganga, the Vishwaganga, the Gyanganga and the Banganga.

Penganga: The Penganga, the principal river of the district, rises close to the northern scarp edge of the Buldhana plateau in the Deulghat hills. The river has a generally south-easterly flow through the district before entering into the Akola district. Most of Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils fall within the drainage of the Penganga. The river has only a seasonal flow, being dry during the hot weather. The valley of the river is open, broad and shallow, presenting a mellowed mature or even senile appearance.

Katepurna: The Katepurna, or the lower Purna or the South Purna as it is differently called, also rises in the Ajanta ranges but outside the district limits in Aurangabad. It enters the district near the village of Chinchkhed in Chikhli tahsil and has a generally south-easterly flow in the southern parts of Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils. It has a run of about 50 km in the southern parts of the district "before it leaves the district to enter into Parbhani. It is also a non-perennial stream but has a flow for a longer period than the Penganga. Both the Penganga and the Katepurna are important left bank tributaries of the Godavari, but however they do not gain any importance till after their leaving the district limits

Dhamna: The Dhamna river, a left bank tributary of the Katepurna, rising in the hills of Aurangabad district and flowing southeast drains a small part in the extreme western section of the Chikhli plateau.

Koradi: The Koradi river rises in the Buldhana plateau to the south of the township of Chikhli and maintains a sub-parallel course to the Penganga to its south and joins the latter to the north of Mehkar town.

Purna: The Purna, the only perennial stream in the Payanghat plains, rises in the south facing scarps of Gawilgarh hills in the district of Amravati. It flows across the northern part of this district to join the Tapi in Jalgaon district. A large number of streams rising in the scarps both to its north and to its south join the river and drain the whole region with a fairly dense network. The pattern is dendritic but some streams have a sub-parallel drainage to the main river before their confluence in the aggraded valley floor. Most of the tributary streams are just pools of water in the hot weather but devastating floods are quite common during the rains.

Banganga: The Banganga, rising in the Gawilgarh hills of the Amravati district enters the district as it descends from the hills. After forming the boundary for a short distance between Buldhana and Akola, it meanders southwards in a flat plain before joining the Purna on its right bank near the village of Deulgaon.

The Mun river, whose source tributaries the Torna, the Vishwamitri and the Mas drain the north facing scarp slopes of the Buldhana plateau in Khamgaon tahsil, flows north, mostly forming the boundary between the Buldhana and the Akola districts. It joins the Purna on its left bank about seven km downstream of the confluence of the Banganga with the Purna. It is a perennial stream.

Gyanganga: The Gyanganga river rises in the northern scarps of Buldhana plateau in the Matargaon reserved forest area and flows almost straight north to join the Purna on its left bank near the village of Yerli after flowing past the township of Nandura.

Vishwaganga: The Vishwaganga rises in the Buldhana hills close to the town. It flows north in a deeply ravined valley and joins the Purna near Harsod. It is a non-perennial stream.

Nalganga: The Nalganga river rises in the northern slopes of the Deulghat hills in the Amdari reserved forest area and flows north past Malkapur town to join the Purna on its left bank near the village of Narawel.

Lakes.—There is an almost circular depression filled in with brackish water occurring in the lava beds of the south facing scarp slopes of the Buldhana plateau that overlook the valley of the Kate-purna. This curious crateriform lake lies close to the southern boundary of the district near the village of Lonar and is hemmed in by an amphitheatre of well wooded cliffs.

Lonar Lake: The country surrounding Lonar lake forms a rolling upland at average elevations of 600 metres, with a few dome shaped residual hills rising to heights of 700 m or more. Geologically speaking, the lake lies in a region which for hundreds of kilometres around consists entirely of bedded flow basalts of Deccan trap, which are three hundred metres or more deep in the neighbourhood.

The lake proper lies in a nearly circular depression surrounded on all sides by a steeply rising escarpment to an even height of about 130 m above the lake level. This scarp rim of the lake forms a continuation of the plateau surface through gentle outward slopes except to the south and the south-west in which directions the plateau slopes down through steeper slopes towards the valley of the Katepurna. In fact, approaching the lake from the surrounding countryside, one does not realise the existence of the lake depression or its scarp rim until one steps right up to the edge of lake. Towards the south and the south-west the hilly rim descends down by about 30 m to a series of low mounds that run as arcuate ridges parallel to the outer contours of the circular hollow that contains the lake. Towards the north-west also, an outer ridge of low hills is recognisable but less defined than the southern one. Towards the northeast, the scarp slope has been breached to a great extent by a deep gully; easy accessibility to the lakeside is mainly along the course of this gully. The nucleated village settlement of Lonar is located at the head of this gully on the outward slope of the plateau.

The circumference of the lake basin along its outer rim is nearly 6 km and along its inner rim is 3.5 km. The scarp rim of the lake basin is nearly at the same uniform level of 630 m except in the south-west where it rises to higher elevations From the flat top rim, the land slopes down through steep slopes to the lake floor: the slope on an average ranges about 30° all around, though it is steeper still along the south-western face. The country rock in the lake basin exposed along the steep inward slopes of the lake consists of bedded sheets of basalts mostly line grained and steel-grey in colour though individual horizons of vesicular basalts with amygdules of chert, zeolite and calcite occur in between.

At the foot of the inward facing steep slope adjoining the lake depression, there is a well developed scree slope with a gradient 3° to 5° utilised by the Forest department for teak plantations. The inward facing slopes of the lake basin are drained by ephemeral streams. Gully action has left its deep mark particularly along the north-eastern and eastern slopes. On the south-west and the west it is less developed. Along the foot of the breached north-eastern face, there is an alluvial fan, well wooded with custard-apple trees.

Three springs of fresh water are noticed along the scarp slope. The one, which is the biggest is at the head of the ravine on the north-eastern slope at a height of 630 m. Known locally as the Dhar, this spring supplies the domestic needs of water-supply for the Lonar village. Along the same ravine, at a lower level, just at the base of a red bole layer occurs another spring, locally identified as Sitanahini. The third spring occurs on the south-eastern face close to the water level in the lake and is called the Ramgaya spring. All the three springs are associated with the base of the volcanic ash layers and seem to derive their water-supply from perched water tables. The Dhar spring seems to be one of the many that occur at this altitude level in the entire neighbourhood. These springs and the temples beside them have attracted pilgrims from far and near.

The waters of this lake are brackish and saltish; for long, according to the old Berar Gazetteer and Ain-i-Akbari, it was a source of salt in this part of Deccan. It is also given in Ain-i-Akbari that 'here is also a reservoir, nay a spring in it of great depth, and measuring a Kos in length and in breadth and surrounded by lofty hills. The water is brackish, but when taken from the centre or at its sides, it is sweet. It contains the essential material for the manufacture of glass and soap and saltpetre is here produced and yields a considerable revenue' [Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. II, by H. S. Jarrett and J. N. Sarkar, Calcutta, 1949, p. 239.] Mr. J. O. Malcolmson in the ' Transactions of the Geological Society ', London, mentions the chemical composition of the salt as trona or striated soda which is a hydrated sesquicarbonate of sodium. In the past carbonates of soda and common salt used to be derived from this lake but long since, the lake salt is not exploited.

The mode of formation of this lake is a matter of considerable geological controversy. The old Buldhana Gazetteer states that according to ' Skanda Purana', the lake depression represents a subterranean abode of ' Lonasura' who was unearthed by Lord Vishnu from his den. Most geologists believe that the lake was formed during the closing phases of the Deccan trap eruptions. Prof. A. B. Orlebar believes that the lake depression was formed by subsidence and engulfment of an upheaved portion that subsequently collapsed when the forces of upheaval were withdrawn. H. J. Carter considers it to be an extinct crater of a volcano. G. Buist also subscribes to this view. Blanford and Medlicott ascribe the depression to a solitary violent volcanic explosion not accompanied by eruption of fluid lavas. V. Ball is of the view that it has been caused by the collapse of the roof of a large limestone cavern belonging to the intratrappeans. La Touche believes subsidence of the roof of an incipient laccolith may have led to the depression.

Geographical Regions.— The foregoing description of the physical features and natural environment helps in understanding the regional patterns within the district. Buldhana is typical of the prosperous cotton farming tracts of the Tapi-Purna valley; the key-note to human life in the district is cotton farming and ginning with the attendant problems in the plains. Yet, regionally, there is an interesting variation in the physical environment and patterns of human economy. The district falls into three distinct physio-structural divisions well demarcated by two fault planes, running nearly west to east; in fact, the transition between one regional unit and another is rather sharp and through a very narrow elongated strip, often 2 to 4 km in width. To the north, lies a small area in the Satpudas, a hilly region; to the south lies the Buldhana plateau, a rolling upland sloping gently to the south-east; in the middle, lies the alluvium infilled graben of the Purna valley or the Payanghat.

Satpuda Region: Approximately, a third of the area of Jalgaon tahsil lies in this physical unit. It is a part of the Melghat or Gawilgarh hills. These hills rise to general elevations of 600 to 700 m, with occasional peaks rising to a thousand metres or more, and present sheer cliffwalls to the Purna plains in the south. The hills rise abruptly within a distance of less than 5 km to their stupendous heights from the valley floor at about 270 m. Their southern edge, indicative of a fault plane runs almost straight with a WSW—ENE strike. They are almost entirely composed of horizontal sheets of successive basic lava flows partly solid and aphanitic and partly amygdular with interbedded ash layers. The area of these hills within the district carries at its crest a structural flat plateau or mesa of an area of about 15 square kilometres, sloping northwards in the western part; the village of Shingra is picturesquely situated at its southern scarp edge and presents an excellent panoramic view of plains below.

The human response within this region is essentially negative. Most of the hill slopes are barren and are grooved by monsoon gullies. Reserved forests cover the slopes that are not too steep and can support vegetation cover but the forests are generally poor and open with stunted species. The forests, belong to the dry deciduous 'salai' type of forests and are mostly 'anjan' forests though teak and 'babul' also occur. The Ambabarwa reserved forest in the extreme north has fairly good reserves of bamboo thickets. These forests have a fairly good reserve of wild animal life such as tigers, panthers, leopards, wild boars, etc.

Aspects of slope have considerable influence on the species and density of forests. Particularly, the slopes facing the Purna plains are poorer and drier in appearance probably due to the hot dry winds of the plains.

Agriculturally, the region is of little value. The steep slopes, rapid run off and shallow, gravelly and stony reddish soil's render agriculture almost impossible, though shifting cultivation is resorted to by some of the tribal people like the Korkus; such practices are gradually ceasing. A mere dozen villages dot the forest area. Half of them are mostly uninhabited while the rest are only hamlets with a grouping together of a couple of huts perched near waterholes and supporting a group of people who eke out a precarious living from the forests around. Constant danger from wild carnivores, withdrawal of forest concessions and vigorous Government drive against shifting cultivation have made most of these villagers migrate and seek employment in the villages of the plains lower down.

Purna Plains: The Purna plain or the Payanghat lies in the middle, enclosed within the two fault scarps running west-east The plain tapers in its width from east to west from 50 to 30 km in which direction the land also slopes in general at an average rate of 2 m for 5 km. However, the gradient of the river, that is very gentle upstream of Malkapur steepens, almost double, downstream of Malkapur till its confluence with the Tapi in Jal gaon district. The Payanghat, comprises entirely the Malkapur and Khamgaon tahsils and the southern part of Jalgaon tahsil.

The Purna river runs west, skirting the Satpudas, flowing within a distance of 20 km from the scarp edge as a result of which the older alluvium of the Purna is thickest in the southern parts of Jalgaon and the northern parts of Khamgaon and Malkapur tahsils tapering in thickness southwards and grading into the regurs.

The Payanghat plains fall into further sub-divisions on the basis of local topographic forms, mostly depositional, soil and cropping patterns:—

(i) The Satpuda piedmont in Jalgaon tahsil, an elongated east-west strip, 4 to 10 km in width;

(ii) The older alluvium of the Purna valley, thicker and wider to the north or the right bank of the river, that is 8 to 15 km in width. This alluvial belt narrows down southwards on the left bank. This area lies entirely below 270 m above sea.

(iii) A regional of residual and erosional topography between 300 m and 400 m above mean sea level with steeper gradients than to the north leading to the northern scarp edge of the Ajanta range. The region is floored by basalts and consists essentially of an undulating topography and residual knolls. The basic traps on weathering have given rise to regur soils, fairly deep and fine, along the northern edge and becoming shallower and coarser southwards.

The numerous monsoon gullies descending down the steep southern scarp slopes of the Satpudas have developed alluvial aprons at the foot of the scarp which on coalescence have become a piedmont. The soils over the piedmont are coarse, light, friable and easy to work, tending to become finer down the stream courses. Along the stream courses, the soils are finer and are made up of successive deposits during floods. They are locally called ' malli' soils and are well suited for horticulture. Elsewhere, the coarse gravelly soils about a metre thick are called 'dagri kali' or 'gothar' soils. The water table in these coarse soils is mostly shallow leading often to the increase in the alkalinity of the soils over the area. Such soils are called 'kharwan'. The region has a high rate of incidence of malaria.

Natural vegetation over these piedmont soils is well dispersed, with almost pure stands of anjan and neem along the stream courses. Cultivation is limited and the cropping pattern is poor. kharif jowar, peas and other pulses and cotton are the main crops. There is practically no crop outside the kharif season. The shallow watertable facilitates the development of betel vine in a number of villages apart from fruit orchards and vegetable cropping, raising of tobacco in what are known as pandhari and 'akhar' soils that are calcareous.

Villages are evenly distributed at distances of 3 km from each other; the larger villages are perched on well drained sites at the confluence of broader streams as they descend down and leave the piedmont; in fact, a well-defined string of larger settle-ments, market and fair villages and towns, is developed along the edge of the piedmont where it merges with the older alluvium. Asalgaon, Jalgaon town, and Baunbir are such contact point settlements along the break of slope and change of economy. Jalgaon (p. 14,788 in 1971) on the banks of the Basi river, is an important cotton ginning and pressing mill centre and a market for raw cotton. It is also a tahsil headquarters.

Purna Valley: The alluvial plains of the Purna covered by deep, old alluvium to the south of the Satpuda piedmont lies almost entirely north of the Bhusaval-Nagpur railway; the river divides it into two unequal halves the larger part being to north of the river.

The area is an almost slopeless flat plain underlain by the richest, deep, bharkali soils of a very fine texture and highly retentive of moisture. The soil becomes sticky when wet but cracks freely in dry weather as a result of which it is quite heavy to work. Local variations of this soil are the el chikni with an oily appearance when ploughed, the chopan soils with pockets of grey marks that have an impervious subsoil structure and hence become waterlogged during rains, the wheat or gawhari soils and the akhar soils suited for garden crops. Malli soils with fine redeposition of alluvium are found along the river banks and are used for garden crops.

The watertable is shallow and the water is generally brackish on account of illuviation of lime and calcareous material into the deeper horizons of the soil. Farming is the mainstay of the people who live in the area. Not much of the cultivable area is under irrigation and farming is almost entirely done in the monsoon kharif season. Area under non-food crops predominates, the sole cash crop dominating the rural economy being cotton, that accounts for more than 40 per cent of the area under the plough. Kharif jowar is the next important crop, and that accounts for an area, ranging between 25 and 30 per cent of the tilled area. Tur, udid and other pulses are the other crops grown. Generally kharif jowar and cotton are grown in inter-culture with tur or other pulses, and are sown after the monsoon has well advanced, in late June and in July. Farmers are busy with jowar harvest and cotton picking towards the end of the calendar year.

Like the string of larger settlements along the lower edge of the Satpuda piedmont, another string of large settlements is located along the southern edge of the older alluvium of the Purna valley. In fact, these settlements are much larger than those of the north and are mostly towns. This is probably due to the influence of the Bhusawal-Nagpur broad gauge double track railway. The plains have a dense distribution of villages with flat roofed mud houses reflecting the agricultural prosperity of the plains; most of these villages are large and compact. The villages tend to avoid the immediate banks of the Purna or any of its larger tributaries on account of the deeply gullied 'badland' topography that develops the soft alluvium due to floods and rainwash. Twin villages often designated budruk and khurd on either side of the stream are quite common. Some of the villages have been deserted in preference to better soils on account of the increasing salinity and agricultural sterility of the 'chopan' soils in which the watertable steadily rises towards the surface.

Apart from the railway, three north-south feeder roads, cutting across the plain serve the area quite well.

Malkapur, Chandur, Nandura and Shegaon are the four largest settlements on the edge of the plains. Malkapur 35,476 in 1971, an agricultural market centre for cotton, tur, udid, jowar and chillis and a tahsil town, owes its importance to its nodal location at a point of railway crossing over the Nalganga. It has a number of cotton ginning and pressing mills, apart from a fertiliser factory based on bone crushing and a factory for fireworks and blasting powder. Chandur, on the right bank of the Vishwaganga, is also on the railway and is a market centre for cotton. Nandura (20,259 in 1971) another nodal centre on the railway is developed in a meander loop of the Gyanganga. It is a twin settlement, the older budruk being outside the meander loop and closer to the railway. It is a cotton collection, pressing and ginning centre. Handloom and dyeing are reputed household industries of this town. It is also famous for its red and black pottery. Shegaon (25.993 in 1971) in Khamgaon tahsil has developed along the railway in a linear pattern with the cotton pressing mills to the west and north. It has an oil hydrogenation plant.

Kali Soil Tract: The river alluvium thins out southwards away from the river and is replaced by the kali regur soils that are moderately deep even up to the foot of the hills, developed as a result of tropical weathering of the underlying basalts. This black soil tract has steeper northward gradients, and is marked off from the plateau to its south by the steep scarp edge of the plateau. A number of isolated basaltic knolls dot the area particularly along the scarp edge. The rivers Nalganga, the Gyanganga, the Mas and the Mun along with their tributaries drain the region. The soils are more open and more easily worked than the soils of the Purna valley. They form morand soils with a good admixture of lime nodules. Kharif jowar and cotton dominate the cropping economy; but pulses and groundnut are more important than in the plains lower down. The Nalganga project has recently brought fairly large areas under irrigated cotton, rice and vegetables and to a small extent under rabi wheat.

Villages are compact, generally near water-points with potable water-supply and are further spaced than those in the Purna plains. They tend to become smaller towards the hills and in most cases are twin settlements on either bank of the streams. Khamgaon (53,692 in 1971), at the edge of the hills and the Buldhana plateau is the largest settlement of the region linked by a branch railway, 13 km long, from the Jalamb railway station on the main Bhusawal-Nagpur railway. It is one of the oldest and largest cotton markets of the Payanghat plains. It has a nodal location with convergence of five regional metal roads. It is a compact settlement on the right bank of the Bordi river, but about 2 km away from the river. Oil mills, cotton presses, cotton seed oil and a lint factory are its main industrial attractions: weaving woollen blankets and making of lanterns and cash boxes are the household industries of the township. Pimpalgaon Raja on the Gyanganga is a centre noted for dyeing. Motala on the Malkapur-Buldhana road is a large regional market centre. Pimprala, about 10 km east of Khamgaon on the Khamgaon-Balapur road is a silk mill centre.

Buldhana Plateau: The Buldhana plateau is initially an extension of the Ajanta ranges and is marked sharply by a scarp fault from the Purna plains to its north. It is an undulating rolling country: the landscape, here, in contrast to the monotony of the flat Purna plains is rich and varied with fertile villages in valley bottoms alternating with barren desolate hills and interspersed with steep-sided ridges and deep gullies. The plateau slopes to the south-east in general and comprises the whole of Chikhli and Mehkar tahsils.

Northern edge of the plateau: The northern scarp edge of the plateau is a rough hilly country with steep gradients, and is deeply scoured by a number of gullies and streams that become torrents during the rains. The slopes of these hill ranges are fairly well eroded with open, mixed forests, mostly teak. Most of them belong to Amdari, Gera Matargaon and Ghatlin reserved forest divisions. Teak is the main species found all over the forest, the other species being salai, anjan, babul, dhawda, khair, bija and chandan. The valuable forest products are, firewood, charcoal, teak and other forest timber, bamboos, and a variety of grasses. Grazing is widely done by the rural live-stock. There is practically no area under cultivation here on account of the rugged terrain, shallow and stony soils and difficulty of procurement of water-supply, villages are few and far between; they are at best forest hamlets. The very few larger villages, set in utter isolation, are on the flat tops of structural benches of the horizontally bedded lava sheets at heights of about 500 and 400 m respectively. Like the northern hilly regions, this area too is one with negative human response. However, human interest in these hilly regions centres around the valuable forest products and the limited fruit orchards on riversides in pockets of locally deep soils and on the two major ghat roads from Buldhana to Malka-pur and Chikhli to Amdapur to Khamgaon, respectively, that make their way through winding stairs and steep ghat sections revealing a romantic view of the wooded valleys and cultivated plains below.

The Buldhana plateau, or the Balaghat as it is at times known in contrast to the Payanghat plains, is a country of rolling topography with a flat topped ridge of low hills, at about 650 m bare and arid, running with a north-west-south-east strike forming a feeble watershed between the two valleys of the Penganga and the lower Purna or the Katepurna. This watershed is breached by the larger tributaries of the Penganga which have extended their upper courses on the southern side of the watershed. Thus, the watershed divides the plateau further into two natural subdivisions; a larger Penganga valley to the north and a less lower or Katepurna valley to the south. The descent from the watershed to the valley floor is less than a hundred metres and through relatively gentle slopes so that the river valleys present an unusually mature appearance with the channels of rivers meandering sluggishly in a wide floor. These two rivers with numerous tributaries afford for the greater part of the year an assured water-supply, but during the hot weather they dwindle into pools of stagnant water. In the valleys, ground water is found at shallow depths in the perched watertables developed in the ash layers inter-bedded between the basalts; numerous community borewells furnish a perennial supply of good and pure water; but, the watershed between, as well as the hill sides, on the edges are practically waterless tracts without even an adequate drinking water-supply for the rural community. About half a dozen shallow natural depressions or tanks mostly in the Chikhli tahsil also provide limited water-supply to about 600 acres for irrigating the fields.

The country as a whole is a succession of plateaus-mesas at different contour levels intersected by ravines; however, this succession of plateaus and ravines is much more rapid in the east, in the Mehkar tahsil on account of greater dissection.

The soils of the plateau are bhorandi or khalki, a thin yellowish coarse soil, often less than half a metre deep with murrum or rock mantle underneath. The upper plateaus are generally covered by shallow black, brown or reddish soils over murrum as the subsoil. These are called barad soils. The soils over the plateau surface, in general, vary rapidly depending upon the location, aspect, ground vegetation and extent of weathering.

In most respects, the agrarian economy over the plateau in the Penganga and Katepurna valleys is similar to that of the Purna plains but however differs from the latter in one significant respect: rabi cropping is significant only over the plateau increasing in importance downstream along the Penganga valley. In fact, about one-fifth of the cropped area in the Mehkar tahsil is under rabi crops in contrast to the tilled lands over the Purna alluvium where the cropping is entirely in the kharif season. It is also noteworthy that food crops cover a larger area than nonfood crops unlike in the Purna plains. Kharif jowar and rabi wheat, tur and other pulses are the main crops. Cotton covers slightly more than a quarter of the tilled area and is steadily gaining in importance as the main cash crop. Safflower among the oilseeds is widely grown during the rabi season. Over the barad soils of the upland, watershed and hill margins where the water-supply is inadequate and precarious bajra, math, hulga or other minor crops are grown.

Nearly three-fourth of the irrigated tract of the district lies in the two tahsils of the plateau, Chikhli alone acounting for about 46 per cent of the area under irrigation. Irrigation is done mostly by lifting water from deep borewells with the help of oil-engines and electric pumps. The entire irrigation, with the aid of tank water that extends to about 600 acres, is done exclusively in the Mehkar tahsil. The irrigated cropping pattern consists of rabi wheat, a limited quantity of kharif rice and tobacco in the Penganga and Katepurna valleys and cotton over the rolling plateau.

About 10 per cent of the land area in the plateau is under permanent pastures and a small area is also devoted to raising fodder crops, at times even with the aid of irrigation.

Villages are generally compact, squarish, medium sized and sited on water points. They are more closely spaced along the Penganga and Katepurna valleys and tend to become somewhat scattered, and smaller along the northern periphery of the plateau and the feeble watershed in between. In fact, most of the villages in the latter areas are uninhabited or have scanty population. This is on account of the inadequacy of the drinking water-supply for domestic purposes or at times a complete lack of water. Water in most of these villages is precious and the rustic folk have to carry water over considerable distances. A common community-well generally supplies the water for the entire village, or in case of streamside villages, the stream itself supplies the water. In a few cases of villages, like the village of Lonar, spring water oozing out from the perched watertable in the intratrappeans along an outcrop provide a copious supply of water. Such springs are mostly along the southern edge of the plateau at heights of 600 m and in two cases along the northern edge of the plateau at 650 m, these spring levels obviously being related to the geological formations that are waterbearing.

The main road of the plateau runs along the length of the plateau following closely the Penganga and connecting the major settlements of the plateau viz., Buldhana, Chikhli, Lavhala and Mehkar and running further east along the crest of the plateau before descending into the plains of Akola district. The north-south running roads take off from this road at one of the major settlements and descend to the Katepurna and Godavari valleys to the south and the Puma valley to the north through picturesque and winding ghat sections set in forest environs.

TOP

TOP