Baheri
Baheri
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Northern tahsil of Bareilly District, United Provinces,
comprising the fiarganas of Sirsawan, Kabar, Chaumahla, and Richha,
and lying between 28 35' and 28 54' N. and 79 16' and 79 41/ E.,
with an area of 345 square miles. Population fell from 207,063 in
1 89 1 to 193,412 in 1 90 1. There are 410 villages and two small towns,
neither of which has a population of 5,000. The demand for land
revenue in 1903-4 was Rs. 3,64,000, and for cesses Rs. 61,000. The
density of population, 561 persons per square mile, is considerably below the District average. This tahsil was the only one which decreased in population between 1891 and 1901. It is a level plain, intersected by numerous small rivers which have nearly all been dammed to supply an extensive system of canals. It is damp and malarious, especially towards the north, and population is liable to fluctuate considerably with the variations in rainfall. This is the chief rice tract in the District, and sugar-cane is less grown than in the areas farther south. The latter crop is also inferior, and its place is taken by maize in the higher lands. In 1903-4 the area under cultivation was 258 square miles, of which 44 were irrigated, almost entirely from canals.
Rebuilding a British-era dam/ 2016
After a dam built during the British period was damaged in 1990, farmers of over 25 villages in UP's Baheri have been facing irrigation related problems. However, after waiting for the government to do something about it, the farmers came together and collected Rs 70,000, while a few other villagers contributed in kind. They started constructing a `kutcha' dam on Monday with mud and sand bags, 98 feet long and 20 feet wide. The dam will be ready [by late Oct 2016].
Chief development offi cer (CDO) SS Awasthi said, “From the British period to 1990, the district administration used to construct a kutcha dam here every rabi season. This dam used to be damaged every year during the monsoon and was remade just before winter. However, the dam construction was stopped here after 1990 due to increased input cost. We had sent a proposal to the state government in 2014 for constructing a `pucca' dam here but it is still pending.“
He added, “The villagers have informed us that they are constructing a dam with at Tehra village and also start the same work at neighbouring Khamariya village.I will inspect the dam soon.“
The CDO said that the district administration will again take up the matterr.
“The quality of crops de teriorated as we failed to provide adequate water. We made several requests to the administration and politiciansbut our pleas fell on deaf ears,“ said Rampal Singh, a farmer at Tehra village.
However, things changed when ex-MLA, Jaideep Singh Barar, persuaded villagers to construct a dam. A few villagers contributed in cash while others helped in kind. The villagers managed to store water here on Thursday . “When we had met officials earlier, they had told us that we would not be able to make a dam on our own. But we proved them wrong,“ said Barar.
