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CHAPTER XVI

FOREST OPERATIONS IN THE PUNJAB AND WESTERN HIMALAYA (continued), 1850-1857

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SIMLA IN 1853 AND ITS FUEL SUPPLY

VEN in these early days Simla, where a Hill Station or Sanitarium had come into being under this name by 1826, was already beginning to feel the pinch brought about by the growing decrease in fuel supplies. Neither the Punjab Government nor the Government of India had yet moved up to what subsequently became the Summer Capital.

The beginnings of Simla were as follows: A tract of land including part of Simla Hill was retained at the close of the Gurkha War of 1815-16. Upon this the first British residence, a mere cottage of wood and thatch, was erected in 1819 by Lieutenant Ross, Assistant Political Agent in the Hill States. Three years later, in 1822, the first permanent house was erected. This was the work of Lieutenant Kennedy, successor in office to Lieutenant Ross. His example was quickly followed by officers from Umbala and neighbouring stations, and by 1826 the new settlement had acquired a name.

Dr. Falconer, Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanical Gardens, who, as has been already described, visited and reported on the Tenasserim Forests, studied the question of the Simla fuel supplies during a visit to the Station in 1853. As a result of his investigations he wrote an able Memorandum on this matter, dated 16th November, 1853. This Memorandum furnishes an interesting pen picture of the position as it existed at the time, and present-day Simla residents may read with something more than curiosity of the troubles of their predecessors in the fair hill capital some seventy years ago.

"The Hill Stations," wrote Falconer, "have long been suffering from a yearly decrease in the supply of firewood. The

nearest patches of woodland have been gradually denuded of trees, so that the supplies have now to be drawn from a distance, with increase of labour and an enhancement of price. The station of Simla was fixed on a spot originally surrounded with trees; immediately below the ridge there were wooded crags and slopes covered with Rhododendron, Andromeda and oak, with many other species, while the ridge and slopes upon which the station stands, abounded in deodar and other Coniferae, and beyond it the lofty ridge of Mahasu was clothed with magnificent forest, descending on either side a long way down the slope. The trees adapted for most economical wants were in such abundance in the neighbourhood, that had the natural wealth been husbanded with prudence, it would have yielded a continuous and ample supply; but except within the mere boundaries of the station itself, the trees were cut down for firewood with the most wasteful improvidence, and no adequate attempt was made to replace the felled trees by the growth of young plants."

Falconer's plan for providing in future for the essential fuel supplies of Simla and the neighbouring hill stations was, in the main, by forming plantations even to the extent of reacquiring land which had been put under agriculture for this purpose, a proposal which was unlikely to be viewed with approval by the Civil officers. Forest Conservancy, in its scientific aspects, he did not appear to consider a possibility; nor did he think it would be possible to stop the annual conflagrations caused wilfully by graziers. But this was the opinion commonly held at the time; and later by many Forest Officers when Forest Conservancy began to be introduced into the country. But some of the opinions expressed in the Memorandum were those of a far-seeing man, and much ahead of those held by the majority of officials of his day, and therefore he may be left to develop his exposition of the case and his suggested remedial proposals as expressed in the Memorandum. He continues:

"The attention of the authorities at Simla was long ago awakened to the impending evil, but the circumstance that the forest tracts surrounding the station belonged to protected hill chieftains, who had the uncontrolled management of their own possessions, deprived them of the power of providing a timeous and suitable remedy.

"The same want, arising from like causes, has successively affected the stations of Sabathu, Kussowlee and Dugshai,

and to such an extent either now felt or in prospect, as to have called for the interference of Government.

"It would appear that in 1845, 20,000 young trees were planted in the Government district of Kotgurh, but with so little success that after eighteen months only 800 survived. I am unacquainted with the particulars of that experiment, the kinds which were tried, the exact nature of the ground, or the circumstances under which they were attempted to be grown, being points of great importance in the case, for species which would grow well among the wooded heights of Hattu above would fail on bare ground at Kotgurh below, but I entirely concur in the opinion expressed by Mr. Edwards, that no good will ever arise from forming plantations on ridges, or hills, or slopes, that are now bare and covered with grass, and with him I believe that such tracts have not probably at any time been clothed with trees, that they have always borne grass or herbaceous vegetation.

"But the same objection will not apply to ridges or slopes that have been bared by indiscriminate felling. However denuded they may be now, suitable measures will restore them to their former wooded condition; for where a tree has once grown, trees may be grown again.

"The remedial measures proposed are: Ist, to rear young plantations throughout the hills on new sites; 2nd, to preserve and renew the forests already existing.

"The Superintendent of the Hill States, Mr. Edwards, thinks, that instead of forming new plantations on waste lands or where they have not been before, attention should be restricted to the preservation and renewal of the forests and copses now existing. He argues that it would be impolitic to restrain the zamindars in their efforts at extending their cultivation, on waste land and forest clearances, more especially as plantations formed on such lands would not be available for use under 40 to 100 years.

"Mr. Edmondstone, the Commissioner of the Cis-Sutlej States, on the other hand considers with good reason that the remoteness of the prospect of return, even if above 40 years, is no sufficient argument against new plantations, and that it is the duty of Government to provide for the future as well as for present wants; he thinks that the best land, when required should be appropriated for plantations, although at the expense of extended cultivation, and recommends that plantations should be formed everywhere within the

bounds of the Simla jurisdiction. The number to be limited only by the means available for adequate supervision.

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Many years ago I passed through the hill country in question, and the result of my observation is that in the interior, away from the vicinity of the hill stations, wood is generally so abundant either in belts of forest, copses in the low valleys, or straggling trees, that there is no necessity for forming new plantations except in localities where the returns might be made available for export on any of the great rivers to the plains. Supposing that such plantations were formed, of what use would they be? In the majority of cases, the timber would be too remote from any of the hill stations to be available with advantage either for building purposes, or for firewood, and the cost of removal to a navigable channel would be equally against its exportation to the plains. On the slopes of the Chor mountain, between Jubal and Sirmur, within a few days' march of Simla, there are sheets of magnificent forest of primeval and stupendous growth, and equal to the building wants of all the hill stations, but which are at present of no use by reason of their impracticable position, as regards means of removal. It appears to me that the majority of the proposed new plantations would be to some degree in the same predicament. The trees grown upon them would be useful only to the zamindars. But although this in itself would be a very laudable object and deserving of the most favourable consideration by the Government, it has still to be shown, so far as I know, that Government interference. is required. In the more elevated situations, the hill people have ample supplies in the pine and oak forests, for all their wants, while in the valleys and on the lower heights where pine logs are not available, it will be found that in suitable localities they plant trees adapted to their wants. In illustration, I may adduce the fact that the tree called Cedrela serrata is very commonly grown in ravines near the villages where pines are not to be had. The tree grows with a long, straight, cylindrical unbranched trunk, and it is consequently well suited as a substitute for pine logs in their buildings.

"It would seem to me, therefore, that no general system of planting with an organized establishment is required, for the interior districts, and that besides the protective and penal measures mentioned by Mr. Edwards, nothing more is required of Government than encouragement or reward to the head men of the hill communities, by the remission of revenue or

limited grants of land, where any great zeal has been distinctly shown in the growth of trees, or in the well conserved condition of any patch of Government forest within the village boundaries. With Mr. Edwards, I entertain no fear of a deficiency of timber, either for building purposes or for fuel in the interior of the hill districts, if the natural sources of supply now in existence are conserved with moderate care.

"With regard to the conflagrations which are universally described as being so destructive, according to my observation they are almost in every instance, wilfully caused. The practice is very common in all parts of India, where there are extensive tracts of waste or prairie land used for grazing. At the end of the rains the ripe grass dries up, forming an innutritious fodder upon which the cattle soon fall off, and the most ready remedy is to apply fire, and burn the withered straw in order that the young grass shoots, which spring up immediately after, may be accessible for browzing. Firing the grass jungle is universally practised in the prairie 'khadur lands along the Terai, where bullocks and buffaloes are grazed and wherever brinjarahs (cattle men) take their cattle in the cold weather. The same object leads to it in the hill districts. The paharees (hillmen) will bide their time patiently for wind and weather suited to a favourable spread of the conflagration. In very many instances, the dry withered grass is an evil, for which burning is the only cure. Under these circumstances, it appears to me questionable whether any amount of injunction, or penal enactment, will be effective against a practice which is so engrained with the wants and the immemorial usages of the people. The best plan would be, to have the plantations in situations not liable to the risk of fire, and the sites best adapted in other respects for planting would be of that character.

"But the case is very different as regards the necessity for plantations in the immediate vicinity of Simla, and the other hill stations. The increasing scarcity of timber and fuel has been long felt, and a remedy for the want is urgently required, the planting measures suggested by Mr. Edmondstone might be applied here with great advantage and effect as regards Simla it would seem advisable, that all the lands around the station that formerly bore wood and are now bared, should be carefully planted. The object is of such importance that for a local and partial case, like this, I would be inclined to agree with the Cis-Sutlej Commissioner in the opinion that

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