Silviculture Series. The Indian Forest Records. Denudation of the Punjab Hills

It is not improbable that the present barren conditiontof the plains of Sind is the result of great floods )on the Indus river which have followed the denudation of the hills of the Indus Valley and there is little doubt that the denudation of these hills is solely the result of man's action by fires and grazing. [...] The Indus river on the western boundary with its tributaries the Sutlej Beas Ravi Chenab and Jhelum rivers forms the natural drainage system carrying the whole drainage of the Punjab (with the exception of a small tract in the east which drains into the Jumna) to the sea near Karachi in Sind. [...] XIV Retrogressive changes in the forest vegetation.—By studying the conditions which determine the distribution of the different types of forests and observing the changes which may be taking place in the vegetation it is possible to reconstruct the past history of the forests and to foresee their future development. [...] It is obvious therefore that as long as the people are dependant on the chit pine forests for the grazing of their cattle it has to be admitted that the firing of the forests is necessary otherwise the cattle would starve but the firing of the forests means that the hills are steadily being denuded of soil and vegetation. [...] It would appear to bc conceivable that the denudation of the Punjab hills of their vegetation might result in diminishing the rainfall on these hills owing to their being situated at the tail end of the current where the current is already weakened whereas on the other hand the denudtion of the hills situated at the head of the current would probably not make the slightest difference to the r