Samadhis of Shaheed e Azam Bhagat Singh ,Sukhdev and Rajguru. 23 rd March -Martyrdom Day

n 1947 this land , across the river Sutlej , had come under Pakistan in 1947.

Pakistan kept them in a totally neglected state.

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In 1947 , Hussainiwala, an enclave of 12 villages went to Pakistan. India got a corresponding enclave of 12 villages linked to the Sulaimanki Headworks.

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In 1961, Jawaharlal Nehru brokered an exchange deal and Great martyrs ' Samadi at Hussaainiwala came to India while Sulaimanki Headworks villages went to Pakistan.

Work was started by India started on renovation of the memorial of the martyrs

 

Ganga and Taxes Lest We Forget

Lest we forget -19 th Century 's Great and Devout Donor For Haridwar Pilgrims .When I was young , I remember reading an old inscription ( near enclosed Zenana Ghats ) at the upstream end of Har ki Pauri , Haridwar.The inscription was about when in 19 th century authorities imposed a Pilgrim tax of One Anna on every pilgrim visiting the Holy city of Haridwar .This greatly upset a devout wealthy Hindu business man of that time. He vowed to undertake the responsibility on himself of paying the Pilgrim tax of all pilgrims and for all times to come .So , he paid a sum of Rs. One Lakh ( a princely sum then ) in return for a promise that never again would any tax be imposed on the Pilgrims visiting Haridwar.It seems the ever voracious tax collecting authorities ( not sparing even pilgrims and disregarding the solemn promise given to the great Donor ) deliberately first, shifted the inscription plate to a secluded place away from public gaze and then may have removed it altogether

Upper Ganga Canal

Please Save 170 Year Old Engineering Marvel ( Upper Ganges Canal ) Up to Roorkee

Convert Old Upper Ganges Canal ( Haridwar to Roorkee ) in to a National Heritage ( Museum )

Convert the abandoned old section of the Upper Ganga ( Ganges )Canal ( from Har-Ki - Pauri, Haridwar to Roorkee ) in to a sort of national heritage museum- thinkers of Jalandhar discussed animatedly.

This section ,originally constructed around 1850 by the East India Company , was at that time the biggest canal system ever undertaken. It was and still is an engineering marvel It has aqueducts , super passages , massive sluice gates , spillways etc. There are massive "lion statues " guarding the canal , near Roorkee.

The Solani aqueduct near Roorkee, apart from being an engineering marvel has the distinction of having first ever Steam Engine ( before the Bombay line ) actively operating in India to ferry massive amounts of earth required for raising the level of the canal 's course.

But. presently , this old section of the beautiful canal is in dis use and a new canal course has been constructed parallel to the old canal. The old canal is in a very pitiable condition. It is neglected and open to vandalism.

It should , immediately , be declared a 'National Heritage " and suitably preserved. It can , also , be developed in to an attractive tourist designation.

Further , aqua riverine life like the great Indian Gharial , which once was abundant in the Ganga and which is now threatened can b

 

Why is Jammu railway station called Jammu Tawi ?

Jammu-Sialkot Railway Line - Pre Independence Times Before Partition , Dera Baba Nanak was a very important , Highway / Railway line ( with its Railway Cum Road bridge over River Ravi ) linking Delhi /Amritsar / Jullundur routes with another strategic town - Sialkot. From Sialkot the Highway split- to Jammu and via Muzaffarabad ( Jhelum Road to Srinagar . The main highway connecting Jammu and Srinagar ran through Sialkot and Muzzafarabad . 

 

From Sialkot , a narrow gauge train ran ( Via Ranbir Singh Pura ) to Jammu 

 

Old Jammu station ( in a derelict condition ) stills exists on the Right Bank of River Tawi. When , broad gauge railway line was built by India to Jammu , the new Railway station ( on the Left Bank side of the River Tawi ) was named Jammu Tawi . ( Jammu is on the banks of river Tawi )

 

Our deepest condolences

Our deepest condolences to Dr Upinder Singh . my college class mate ,and all the members of her family, on the passing away of her father, Dr Manmohan Singh ji