Geography

Topography

All the Tehsils of the district namely Gurdaspur,Batala and Dera Baba Nanak are plain and similar to the rest of the Punjab plains in structure. The land scape of the district has varied topography comprising undulating plan, the flood plains of the Ravi and the Beas and the up land plain. To its south lies an area of about 128 sq.kms which is highly dissected and is an undulating plain. Its elevation ranges from about 305 to 381 metres above sea level. It is travessed by a number of choas and has an undulating topography. The flood plains of the Ravi and the Beas are separated from the up land plain by sharp river cut bluffs. They are low lying, with slightly uneven topography. Sand dominates in the soil structure of the flood plains, but it diminishes in both quantity and courseness in the upland plain.The up land plain covers a large part of the district particularly .Its elevation ranges from about 305 mertres above sea level in the north-east to about 213 metres above sea level in the south west, with a gentle gradient of about 1 metre in 1.6 km. This is the most important physiographic unit in the district.

Power Resources

The Beas and Ravi are the two main rivers which flow through the district, both of which originate near the Rohitang pass in the adjoining state of Himachal Pradesh.Like other rivers of the punjab the water of the Beas and the Ravi fluctuate from season to season and from year to year. This fluctuating discharge of the rivers does not permit their navigational use depends upon the rainfall. There are number of local swampy depression popularly known as Chhambs. The largest of there is the Kahnuwan Chhamb which stretches along the Beas river in Gurdaspur tehsil. Another swampy depression is the Keshopur Chhamb but this Chhamb alongwith other erst while chhambs of Dhan Rai, Narod Budiulzama, Paniar, Bucha Nangal and Naranwali, have practically been reclaimed now. The district possesses a fairly dense network of canals of the Upper Bari Doab Canal system which irrigates most of the area of the district. Its main branches are Lahore branch, Kasur branch and the Sabhraon branch. The Ravi Beas link which was completed around 1954, diverts part of the Ravi water into the Chakki khad which is a tributary of the Beas. Ranjit Sagar Dam : 600 MW with Punjab share of 452 MW Ranjit Sagar Dam is one of the latest multipurpose river valley projects under construction on river Ravi about 24 Kms. upstream of Madhopur Head Works. This project mainly comprises of 160 m high dam ,600 MW Power Plant with four units of 150 MW capacity each.

Climate

There are mainly two seasons i.e. summer and winter. The summer season falls between the months of April to July and the winter November to March. In summer season the temperature touches 440C or even sometimes crosses it. June is the hottest month and January is the coldest one. Mostly the rain falls in the month of July. The winter rains are experienced during January and February. The dust storm occurs in the month of May and June.

Rainfall

The south-west monsoon generally arrives in the first week of July and continue up to the end of August. 70% of the rainfall occurs during this period.

Ecology

The changes in ecology system are inevitable, consequences of development process. The denudation of forests due to increasing population, urbanisation industrialization have accelerated the process of environmental degradation in the district. Therefore preservation of the ecology is one of the most important goals of the district planning. The vegetation varies in the district depending on the soil, topography and elevation. In the Plain, large scale of afforestation has been under taken by the forest department. Where water facilities are available, Shisham, mulberry, eucalyptus and poplar are being planted. In the Kallar area, kikar prosopis and eucalyptus has been planted. Besides mango and mulberry, other fruit trees cuiltivated in the district include orange, Kinnow Lemon tree etc.

Hydrology

The ground water in this region is suitable for irrigational and domestic uses.The sub soil water depth ranges from 5 to 8 metres in most part of the district. Due to Dhusi bandh and stepped floods the water table has gone very low.

Soils

The soils are loamy with a clay content below 10 percent. They contain small quantities of lime but the magnesia content is high. They are well supplied in potash and phosphoric acid but the quantities available are low. The agriculture is dependent to a large extent on the nature of its soils which in turn, is influenced materially by climatic factors.The soil of the district is quite alluvial and fertile. The district consists of three kinds of soils viz, Riarki, Bangar and Bet. The area of Dhariwal Ghuman, Qadian, Harchowal and Sri Hargobindpur is called Riarki. The western side of Kahnuwan lake up to Aliwal canal is called Bangar and the area between the rivers of Beas and Ravi is known as Bet. Near about 300 villages of the district fall in Bet Area. The cultivable waste land is fallow or covered with bushes or jungle which may not be put to any use . Lands under that ching grass bamboo, bushes, tree crops etc. which are not included under forests have been considered as cultivable waste. As for example, all growing lands which are permanent pastures, meadows, grazing lands within the forests etc.

Minerals

The foundry sand is found from Dharamkot near Batala. The deposits are located 6.5 kms west of Batala. Exposed on both sides of Batala-Dera Baba Nanak road, the Dharmkot sand is a natural moulding sand, containing about 20% of clay. Another deposit which is about 4 metres thick, occurs at about 6 km from Batala on the Batala Qadian road. The sand gives a yellowish tinge on the surface but is reddish brown at about 1 metre depth. The sand deposits are also found at Bhagwanpur about 15 km. west of Batala on Dera Baba Nanak road and about 10 km from Gurdaspur on the Gurdaspur Naushera road (20 percent clay). The salt petre occurs in the district at the villages of Thikriwala, Pandori in thesil Gurdaspur and Dhawan, Chataurgarh and Badowal in tehsil Batala. It is a source of Potassium nitrate which can be used for making crackers and Gunpowder, in match and sugar industry and as fertilizer.