Location
A glance on the map of Sindh reveals that Larkana, from location point of view enjoys a strategic position. After Karachi, it is largest city on the west bank of river Indus in Sindh. It lies on 27o 33' 40.4" North latitude and 68o 12' 30.8" East longitude at an elevation of about 167 ft from the sea level. The city is located in upper Sindh at a distance of about 85 km south west of sukkur. Important towns in the vicinity of Larkana include Dokri, Naudero, Ratodero, Qambar, Bakrani, Shahdadkot, Badah and Miro Khan.
Govt: Girls College Larkana.
Larkana before partition
'Hujaee nano ta ghum Larkano' if you have the money, then visit Larkana. That's one of the most popular idioms by which Larkana has been described right from its existence. Known to be a poetic city with a romantic aura in the air, Larkana projected a loving feeling despite the fact that it lacked the beauty or precision seen in Shikarpur or Karachi. Larkana has been famous for the Guawa fruit production. But above and all these descriptions, Larkana derives its historical importance from the fact that it is the actual cradle in Sindh to the mother of all civilisations, namely 'Moen-jo-Daro' or the mound of the Dead, which is located in the vicinity of Larkana.
Sir Shahnawaz Library Larkana
Larkana was founded about 300y ago by a a tribe of Sindh called "Laraks" on the banks of the Ghaad Waah, which was dug at the behest of the kalhora rulers, it had fruit and flower garden along it and in time settlers lile the sailors from 'Laar' came and settled down here which got the place christened Larkana.
High Court, Larkana.
This place actually progressed under the British rule in the early 20thcentury and went to be the headquarter of the province in 1901 AD with its main towns being Nao Deroo Qamber and Rato Dero. Larkana got status of Muncipal Committeee in 1855 AD. With the completion of the Sukkur Barrage in 1931 towards the west of Larkano was the Dadu Canal and in the east the Rice Canal which went on to become a place for cultural gatherings in the initial days but with the onset of the Rice Canal the Ghaad Waah started drying up and the place lost its charm.
This place has been often referred to as the 'Eden of Sind' or 'Shiraz of Sind' or even Bang-e-Anam' which led to it being known as the Garden City. This probably came about on the basis of the numerous garden that were there in the city, the most famous being the 'Tajar Baugh' and 'Gyan Baugh' apart from 'Tolani Baugh', 'Riyali Baugh', Baaey-jo-Baugh', Thanwar Baugh',' Karamam Baugh', 'Lahori Baugh', 'Dharami Baugh', 'Lekhraj Baugh'. Amongst these gardens the mangoes from Tolani Baugh and the beir from Dharami Baugh were famous throughout the world and much in demand. Two public parks also adorned the city namely 'Bolus Park' which was used for political and social gatherings and 'Mazdoor Park' which was a open air study place for the budding students.
Modern Larkana
Role of the City
Larkana is the most important city in the North West Sindh. Being home town of many political personalities, it excercises a countrywide influence. Larkana got status of Divisonal Headquarter in 1988 comprising three districts i. e. Larkana, Jacobabad, Shikarpure.
Climate of Larkana
The city of Larkana falls within a plains of Indus Valley stretching from north to south. The average mean maximum and minimum temperatures during summer are 48 oC and 33 oC respectively. During winter the average mean maximum and minimum temperatures are 21 oC and 11 oC respectively.The average annnual precipitation is about 115 mm and humidity between 40% to 60%.
Physical Features
Larkana city is divided into three parts having tow physical barriers i.e. Railway line and Rice Canal. The old town is located towards east of railway line which is densly populated and has already developed as a commercial and retail center. This part comprises Qafila Sirai, Ali Goharabad, Galib Nagar, Surahia Padhar, Kadri Muhalla, Ghareeb Mukaam, Leelaabad, Karma Bagh, Daree Muhalla, Khalique Colony, Gajanpur, Murad Wahan, Allahabad, Zulifiquar Bagh, Jinnah Bagh.
The second part of the city is between railway line and Rice canal towards the west of the old town. Main buildings and muhalla's in this part are Circuit House, Sir Shahnawaz Library, Chandka Medical College, Chandka Medical Hospital, SP office, DC office, High Court, Pilot Scondary School, STN TV station, Boys Degree College, Lahorri Muhalla, Peoples Colony, Doctors Colony.
Third part is located between Rice canal and on both sides of Ghar Wah, North West of the town. Newly developed Muncipal housing Colony, Shaikh Zaid Woman's Hospital, Comminsionerate building, District Jail, Childrens' Hospital, Dirctor Education, Larkan FM Radio station, Shaikh Zaid Colony, Police training center etc.
Statistics of Larkana city
Area of City: 10 sq miles (approx)
Population of city:
1901 0.015 millions
1941 0.028 millions
1981 0.124 millions
1998 0.519 millions
There are 19804 villages in the district. The total population of these villages is 1.47 millions.
Cinema Houses: Al-Manzar, Nigar and Chelopetra
Public Parks : Jinnah Bagh, Zulfiquar Bagh, Shahnawaz Children Park, New Railway Park 1 & 2, Nawa Tak Park, Kamal Atta Turk Park.
There are various animals wandering on the streets including Dogs, Cats, Donkeys, Horses, and Camels. There are various kinds of birds in the city, cold blooded birds come from Russia, in the winter and make swamp on the bank of Indus River near Mohenjo-Daro.
Main tribes and castes residing in the district
Chandio, Memon, Gad, Kalhoro, Abbasi, Channa, Samo, Magsi, Siyal, Abro, Brohi, Jatoi, Sandilo, Kalhoro, Shaikh, Soomro, Unnar, Mirbahar, Bughio, Mashori, Machi, Jiskani, Junijo, Khuhawar, Khuhro, Sahita,Pirzada, Jamali, Harijan, Hindu, Bagri, etc.
Government Pilot High School Larkana.
Educational Institutions
Larkano is advancing due to the modern trends and vogue in the city. Larkano is turning toward giving quality education to its citizens. The literacy rate in Larkana district is 35%. There are almost 50 private K-G Schools throughout the City, run privately. Some of the Institutions which are offering education are categorized below:Colleges and Schools
Z.A Bhutto Agricultural College, Dokri
Chandka Medical College, Larkana.
Govt. Polytechnic College, Larkana.
Govt. Pilot Higher Secondary School (built by British in 1926)
Govt. Municipal Higher Secondary School Larkano
Public School
Cadet College Larkano
Sindh Science College Larkano, (Private)
City Public School (Private)
Govt. Degree College Larkano
Govt. Girls Degree College Larkano
Govt. College of Arts & Commerce Larkano
Govt. Law College, Larkano
B.Ed College Larkano
Main Hospitals
Chandka Hospital, Civil Hospital, Sindh Medical, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Children Hospital, Causality, Linar or Cancer hospital, Farooq Centre, Eyes Hospital
Public Parks
Jinnah Bagh, Zulfiquar Bagh, Shahnawaz Childrens Park, New Railway Park 1 & 2, Nawa Tak Park, Kamal Atta Turk Park and Tank Chowk Park
Guava Gardens of Larkana Depleting
The cold wave which followed the winter showers in mid-January destroyed most of the fragile vegetation in Sindh but helped the crop of Guava fruit greatly. It is said, " Guava needs cold more than the water ".
Guava is a small tropical tree (Psidium guajava) bearing a sweet and delicious pale yellow fruit with pink juicy flesh containing a fragrance and flavor of its own. It is concentrated only in one area of Larkana district of Sindh. As Kunri (Thar) is famous for the Red Chilies and Therhi (Khairpur district) is known for the Date crop, the area of Larkana is identified besides the Rice by this unique crop of Guava which is neither sown nor harvested anywhere else in Sindh other than this area of Larkana.
A variety of Guava is also grown in Malir area of Karachi but the Guava of Larkana surpasses it in fragrance and thus happens to be the craze of the market here and abroad. This fruit with its origin in Latin America, Kenya and India is being grown in Sindh with great success both in the terms of taste as well as profitability in business.
A passerby driving on Larkana - Sukkur road cannot escape the sight of the panoramic orchards with lush green trees grown in geometrical designs in soft soil of the area on immediate Right Bank of Indus. The Guava trees bear fruit twice in a year but its ideal season happens to be from November to March. During last season, hectic trade activity was witnessed here where trucks loaded with crates of the fruit proceeded to the north and south, the west and the east.
The other crop of Guava in June, July and August gets contaminated due to sizzling heat of summer in Larkana area and the growers usually destroy the fruit while in the trees. The growers of Guava, therefore, rely solely on a single crop of winter. The fruit produced from mid- January to mid-April is considered as the most timely.
The major chunk of the fruit is exported to the Middle Eastern countries while its demand is increasing locally in the province of Punjab and its cities such as Sadiqabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, Lahore, Dera Ghazi Khan, Liaqatpur and Khanpur etc. The fruit of Guava is also supplied to Karachi in bulk but owing to its delicate nature and vulnerability to the harsh climatic influences, it is damaged on great extent as there are no modern storage facilities as well as quick transportation system to supply the commodity to the market in time. It is usually after mid- January that the semi-ripe Guava is supplied to Karachi wherefrom it is export abroad. The growers earn more from that semi-ripe fruit than from the fully-grown Guava.
In seventies, some effort was made to create various incentives for the export of this crop and for that purpose the Mohenjodaro airport was expanded to provide landing facility for the PIA Boeing flights just to transport this unique commodity to the far off markets in Asia and Africa, Europe and America. But due to change of different governments, everything has been changing at least for the Guava trade and now this fruit is being sold locally at very nominal prices.
The density of the crop in Larkana could be understood from the fact that only from a single village known as Agani, with 1500 acres of Guava cultivation, 30 to 40 trucks are loaded daily for different markets. Each truck contains 600 crates with 20 kilogram of guava in each truck. The small - size truck carries 400 crates. In ideal season each crate with high quality fruit fetches about Rs. 600 to the grower. However, in 1998 the price of a guava crate did not exceed Rs. 300. The guava prices in 1999 remained almost the same while in the year 2000 the prices showed some upward trend to touch the figure of Rs. 500.
During bumper crop no one from the village remains unoccupied while even small children carry fruit in small straw baskets and settle down by the roadside for retail sale and thus manage their substance.
The growers of Guava, though flourishing certainly, are hard-pressed by the taxation system. The farmers are paying about Rs. 27 Lacs every month only to the Larkana District Council while the contractors are extracting exorbitant charges from them. There is no uniform system of the taxation; therefore the contractors are charging Rs. 6 instead of Rs. 3 (as per schedule) on each crate of Guava to be supplied to the market outside Larkana.
Larkana is remembered in the pages of history as the city of gardens. It was during the Kalhora dynasty that the gardens grew far and wide in this area more so because the local rulers had dug new canals known as 'Gha'ar'. No doubt the Lloyd Barrage at Sukkur commissioned in 1932 A.D revolutionized Sindh's agriculture, but the twin-menace of waterlogging and salinity became acute only after the construction of world's largest irrigation system in Sindh. It is also an indisputable fact that the British architects of the Sukkur barrage had strongly suggested to the local authorities to dig seepage canals parallel to the seven long canals of the barrage, but the follow-up works seldom took place in Sindh.
So, it was due to many such reasons that the waterlogging and salinity went on spreading widely in Sindh. This menace in fact snatched the status of Larkana as being the city of gardens. Today the area of the Guava gardens is being diminished by and by more so due to the menace of waterlogging being created squarely by the nearby flowing river Indus. The output of the Guava crop has also been effected due to such environmental damage caused to the area. According to the Guava growers their gardens were producing 1000 to 1200 crates per acre previously while at present it is hardly half of it.
But in-spite of all, this unique crop of Sindh still has a great potential of earning valuable foreign exchange provided the government gets alive to it. The growers have suggested to the government to establish the fruit industry of Guava including the Jam and Jelly industry at Larkana for boosting up the product to earn foreign exchange.
|
