WORKING-PLAN REPORT OF THE NORTHERN RANGES IN THE 

 SEONI DIVISION, SOUTHERN CIRCLE, CENTRAL PROVINCES. 



Area 361 square miles. 



INTRODUCTION. 



1. A preliminary report drawn up by Mr. Narayan Prasad Bajpai, Extra- 

 Assistant Conservator, in September 1898 was approved of by the Inspector- 

 General of Forests in his No. 25- Working-plan, dated the i8th November 1898. 



2. The collection of data for the plan was commenced by Mr. Rama Rao, 

 Forest Ranger, and continued and completed by me. 



3. No expenses were incurred in the preparation of the plan, and the local 

 knowledge of the Range Officers has been utilized as far as practicable. 



PART I 



SUMMARY OF FACTS ON WHICH THE PROPOSALS 



ARE BASED. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE TRACT DEALT WITH. 



4. All Government Forest Reserves lying to the north of the town of Seoni, 



between the rivers Nerbada and Wainganga, together 



Name and situation. . , , , _ , i 7 r i 



with the Gangai and Barbaspur Reserves which he along 



the southern bank of the Wainganga, form three distinct charges called the 

 Chappara, the Dhooma and the Nerbada Ranges, mentioned herein as the 

 Northern Ranges. 



These forests lie on both sides of the Great Northern Road wholly in the 

 Lakhnadon Tahsil. The nearest points are 16 miles from Seoni and 23 miles 

 from Jubbulpore. 



5. The Northern Ranges are bounded on the north by the Jubbulpore and 

 Mandla Districts, east by the Mand'a District, south by the Seoni Tahsil of the 

 Seoni District, and west by the Chhindwara and Narsinghpur Districts. 



6. The forests are all mostly hilly and the hills are as a rule rocky 



and rather steep cut up by nallas and ravines which 



Configuration of the ground. . . . . r . "/ , , . 



dram northwards into the Nerbada and southwards into 



the Wainganga. All aspects are represented, but the northern and southern 

 aspects predominate. The height above the sea-level varies from 1,800 feet to 

 2,200 feet. 



"]. The rocks are mostly trap, but laterite, gneiss, quartz and limestone 

 occur in several places. The soil of the different reserves 



Underlying rock and soil. . ... ,. . 



vanes, but a poor mooram soil formed from the disinte- 

 gration of trap, laterite and quartz is the most common. Black mould and fairly 

 rich sandy soil occur in certain flat areas, but their proportion compared with the 

 above areas is insignificant and may be overlooked. 



