Sonipat
From Jatland Wiki
Sonipat (Hindi: सोनीपत) :The district headquarter is situated in Sonipat. Other smaller towns are Gohana, Ganaur, Murthal and Rai. The total area of Sonipat district is 2,260 sq km and its population is 10,64,000. Sonipat is bordered by the states of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as well as the districts of Rohtak, Jind and Panipat. The River Yamuna runs along the eastern boundary of the district.
Sonipat is one of the important districts of Haryana. Sonipat town is the district headquarters. The district touches Delhi on one end, Panipat District on the other, and the Yamuna River acting as a border in one direction and Rohtak on the other side. District Sonepat comprises of 3 sub-divisions namely Ganaur, Sonepat and Gohana and seven blocks (Ganaur, Sonipat, Rai, Kharkhoda, Gohana, Kathura and Mundlana) has been carved out of Rohtak and made a full fledged district on 22 December 1972. Sonepat is the largest tehsil followed by Gohana.
In the South of Sonipat, if we cross Delhi, there is a city called Sona, and in the North of Sonipat, there is a city called Panipat. If we combine these names, it becomes Sonipat. Sonipat was earlier known as Sonprastha, which later on became Swarnprastha, meaning the "Golden City": derived from two Sanskrit words, Swarn (Gold) and Prastha (Place). Over a period of time, the classical name Swarnprasth's pronunciation degraded into Swarnpat, and then to its current form, Sonipat.
The earliest reference of this city comes in the epic Mahabharata, and at that time, it was one of the five villages demanded by the Pandavas in lieu of the kingdom of Hastinapur.
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Geography
Main water system in the district comprises of River Yamuna and the irrigation canals flowing out of it. There is no perennial river in the district. The underground water resources differ from area to area. The depth of the water table is the lowest in the Khader area along the Yamuna, where it is below 10 ft. It increases to 30 to 40 ft. in some of the western and south eastern part of the district. The ground water in some areas is saline and brackish. The ground water conditions indicate that the district faces the problem of occurrence of brackish water and water logging in eastern parts of the district.
Broadly speaking, the district is a continuous part of the Haryana-Punjab plain, but the area is not leveled in some parts. Over most of the district, the soil is fine loam of rich color. However, some areas has sandy soil and others are comprised of Kallar. The plain has a gradual slope to the south and east. The district may be roughly divided into three regions:
The Khadar
Along the River Yamuna is a narrow flood plain, 3 to 6 km wide, and is formed by the river along its course. The Khader plain is 20 to 30 ft. lower adjoining upland plain. It is comprised of fine clay loam left by the receding floods of the Yamuna. Presently, rice and sugar cane cultivation is undertaken by the farmers in the Khadar area. Recently, the farmers have started planting Banana, Pappaya and other fruits trees in this area.
The Upland Plain
It consists of Sonepat tehsil lying to the west of the Khadar, and is the most extensive of the three regions: The Upland Plain is covered with old alluvium , which if properly irrigated, is highly productive. Extensive Farming of crops, oil seeds, horticultural plants, vegetables and flowers, is undertaken in this region. The ridges in Gohana tehsil represent the northern most extension of the Aravallis.
The Sandy Region
A very smaller part of the district is covered with soil comprising of sand or sandy loam. Parts of this region has high PH value leading to kallor land.
