( 6 ) 



The China landslide at Naini Tal with its attendant loss of 

 life will be remembered by many. Such landslides of which many 

 mighfbe mentioned, are very similar to those in the Savoy Alps 

 on the afforestation of which the French forest department 

 maintains a separate staff of officers. It is realized that such 

 places must be afforested and protected for the safety of the 

 people regardless of cost and monetary returns. For the purpose 

 of this book it is proposed to deal mostly with the country washed 

 by the Jumna river as it is in this portion that immediate action 

 is required. 



THE JUMNA VALLEY. 



The Jumna takes its rise in latitude 3l'2', longitude 70 C< 27' 

 about five miles north of Jumnotri and eight miles west of Bundar- 

 punch peak in the Himalayas. Its length from its source to the 

 confluence with the Ganges is 860 miles. It has 17 tributaries, of 

 which 5 rise in the Himalayas, 3 in the Siwaliks, 3 iu the Vindhya 

 Hills, 1 in the Satpura Hills, and 5 in the plains of the Do^ab. If 

 the reader will pick up a map showing the distribution of forests 

 in relation to these rivers, he will see how insufficient or altogether 

 absent is the regulating belt of forest to control the sources of 

 these streams. In addition to this insufficiency many of the 

 forests are open to the grazing and browsing of cattle, resulting 

 in the deterioration of the soil covering and ultimately to the 

 destruction of the forest. This process is accelerated by the 

 wasteful habit of burning the forest practised by the village people. 

 Anybody who has visited the Dehra Dun and Saharanpur 

 districts cannot fail to be impressed with the enormous damage 

 done by sudden floods from the Himalayas and Siwaliks and it is 

 not surprising to find that the area under cultivation in many 

 villages of the. Saharanpur Tarai has decreased during the last 50 

 years. The sub-montane rivers have been continually changing 

 their courses, causing the land to be covered with a deep boulder 

 deposit absolutely unfit for cultivation. If grazing were entirely 

 excluded the old beds would very quickly become covered over with 

 a dense crop of shisham (Dalbergia Sissoo) and Khair (Acacia 

 Catechu) which would form a very efficient natural training and 

 obstruction work against the force of the floods. Unfortunately 

 a large portion of these forests are open to grazing and the young 

 seedlings are browsed down every year, the beds have widened, 

 and the force of the floods has increased ; for these various 

 reasons the vegetation on the neighbouring hills is of a very 

 poor description and, owing to much of the soil having been 

 carried off, the water flows away with great rapidity, thereby 



