Phullanwalਫੁੱਲਂਵਲ

The village that tripled in a decade

Phullanwal is a village in Ludhiana West tehsil of Ludhiana district, Punjab, in the Malwa region, standing on Pakhowal Road about 5 kilometres from Ludhiana city. It falls in the Ludhiana-I block, has its own gram panchayat, carries census village code 033587 and covers just 331 hectares. What makes Phullanwal remarkable is the speed of its change. In 2001 the census counted 3,356 people here. By 2011 it counted 9,927: the village had nearly tripled in ten years, growing at about 11 percent a year as the city's housing colonies, schools and markets pushed outward along Pakhowal Road. Its name is now carried by a city junction, Phullanwal Chowk, and in the property pages of Ludhiana the village is described less as a village than as a locality of the city itself.

Land the city is taking over

The land record shows a settlement being absorbed. Of Phullanwal's 331 hectares, 213 hectares were already under non-agricultural uses in 2011: houses, roads, plots and ponds. Only 118 hectares remained as net sown area, every hectare of it irrigated by wells and tubewells. Farming survives at the edges, but the ground itself has changed sides. Packing 9,927 people into 3.31 square kilometres gives a density of about 2,999 people per square kilometre, town-like crowding on a village's paperwork. Phullanwal tells the same story as its neighbour Dad along the same road, where the sown area has also fallen behind the built-up area: on Ludhiana's southwestern edge, the village map is being redrawn colony by colony.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 9,927 people in Phullanwal: 5,266 men and 4,661 women, in 1,996 households at about 5 people to a household. The sex ratio was 885 women for every 1,000 men. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,250, about 13 percent of the village, the largest child share of any village in this batch, a sign of the young families moving in. Scheduled Castes made up 2,899 people, about 29 percent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded. Literacy stood at 81.2 percent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 85.39 percent and women at 76.46 percent, well above the Punjab village average and helped by the city's schools on the doorstep.

Work has already left the fields. The census recorded 4,012 workers, about 40 percent of the village. Of the 3,252 main workers, 2,801 were other workers in trade, transport, construction and services, against only 309 cultivators, about 41 agricultural labourers and 101 people in household industry. Counting the 760 marginal workers, the village held 346 cultivators and just 44 agricultural labourers in all. Fewer than one worker in ten still worked the land in 2011: Phullanwal earns its living from Ludhiana.

Schools, health and daily services

Education runs the full village ladder. The 2011 Village Directory recorded one government school at each level, primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary, so children can study up to Class 12 without leaving the village. Health cover is thinner. The only government health facility recorded inside the village was a dispensary: there was no primary health centre, no health sub-centre, no allopathic hospital and no veterinary hospital, though an ASHA worker and an anganwadi centre served the village. For anything beyond the dispensary, residents use Ludhiana, about 5 kilometres away. Drinking water came from untreated tap water supply.

The rest of the record is that of a well-connected settlement. The village has mobile phone coverage, a public distribution system shop, an ATM and a commercial bank branch, with a co-operative bank 5 to 10 kilometres away. Neither the post office nor the sub post office stood inside the village in 2011; both were within 5 kilometres. Public and private bus services both run through the village, the roads are pucca, and the nearest railway station is 5 to 10 kilometres away. Power supply in 2011 ran to 18 hours a day for domestic use and 14 hours for agriculture.

Worship in the village

Phullanwal's own places of worship serve both the old village and the new colonies around it. Directory listings for the village name Gurudwara Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in Phullanwal itself, a Gurdwara Bhagat Ravidas Sar serving the village, and the Shiv Vatika Mandir on Flower Road. None is a shrine of wider fame, but together they mark the village's two living traditions, and their congregations now mix farming families with the city families who have settled around them.

What is the population of Phullanwal?

The population of Phullanwal was 9,927 at the 2011 census, in 1,996 households. It had nearly tripled from 3,356 in 2001 as Ludhiana city grew out along Pakhowal Road.

How far is Phullanwal from Ludhiana city?

Phullanwal is about 5 kilometres from Ludhiana, on Pakhowal Road in Ludhiana West tehsil. Its PIN code is 141122.

Is Phullanwal a village or part of Ludhiana?

Phullanwal is still a separate village with its own gram panchayat, in the Ludhiana-I block. In daily life it works as part of the city: most of its land is under non-agricultural use and most of its workers earn outside farming.

Does Phullanwal have a hospital?

No hospital or primary health centre was recorded inside the village in 2011. The Village Directory recorded a government dispensary in the village, and full hospital care is available in Ludhiana, about 5 kilometres away.