Page 59 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

dependable. At settlement the higher lands were, as a rule, the better,
whereas later the lower produced the best crops. In these circles also the
heaviest well assessments were, as a rule, found on the worst wells. In the
Pacca circle of Muzaffargarh the wells irrigated from the Chenab canals had
suffered in much the same way as those which got their flood direct from the
river, particularly on the Hajiwah Branch of the Taliri Canal. In the estates
of Muzaffargarh and Alipur irrigated from the tail of the Maggi, the Ghuttu,
the Puran and the Suleman; the changes in the quality of the wells were very
marked, though less extreme than on the Chenab side of the district, except
at the tail of the Maggi and the Ghuttu, where the supply was worse than at
settlement. Conditions in the Thal circle of Muzaffargarh were generally
similar to those of the Nahri Thal of Kot Addu. The position would have been
more serious were it not for the peculiar character of the revenue payers who,
as a rule, fell into two classes. Generally speaking, it mattered little to the
large landowners that their wells were more heavily assessed than their best
since the general pitch of the assessment was not excessive and what they
lost on one well they gained on another. So too, in practice, though the small
holder might be paying four times a fair assessment or only a quarter of it,
the amounts involved were usually too small to make any real difference to
his Financial position. Nonetheless there was a universal complaint against
the assessments based on the grading of the wells, and there was no way in
which the system could be defended.
Third Regular Settlement
The third regular settlement was conducted by Mr. J.D. Anderson, ICS, from
March, 1921 to April, 1925. The term of settlement as recommended by the
said Settlement Officer was 30 years but the Government vide their memo.
No. 2939-R, dated 19th August, 1933 had fixed it as 40 years. In this
settlement operation, works relating to the revision of records, measurement
of Thal, measurement of riverain villages, re-measurement and revisions,
correction and preparation of maps, records of rights and village note books
etc., were carried out. With regard to the assessment operation the whole of
the Thal circle, all villages of the Muzaffargarh Pacca circle irrigated from the
Indus canals and the southern villages, including Ghazanfargarh, irrigated
wholly or in part from the Chenab canals were placed under a fluctuating
assessment under the orders of the Government passed in the year 1931.

No change had been made in the assessment circle of the settlement, except
that the Chahi-sailab circle of the Alipur Tehsil had been abolished and Pacca
circle of the Muzaffargarh had been sub-divided into two portions: mustaqil
and ghair-mustaqil. The soil classification had been based, as before, on the
method of irrigation. The lump assessment on wells had been abolished and
assessment by crop rates had been introduced throughout. Only portion of
the district where fixed assessment had been retained was the mustaqil part
of the Pacca circle of the Muzaffargarh Tehsil. As the fixed assessment, which
was introduced with effect from Kharif 1925, did not work well in certain
portions of the District Muzaffargarh, it was decided to introduce a

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