Burewala (بورے والا) is a city of
Vehari District in southern
Punjab,
Pakistan. It is located at 30°10'0N 72°39'0E and has an altitude
of 133 metres (439 feet).According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, Burewala had about 150,000
people.As of 2000, it is the 31st biggest city in
Pakistan by population.
The city of Burewala is the headquarters of
Burewala Tehsil, an administrative subdivision of the district.It is located 1035 km away from
Karachi, 187 km from
Faisalabad, 208 km from
Lahore,
135 km from
Multan,
35 km from
Vehari.
40 km from
Arifwala,75 km from
Pakpattan and 103 km from
Bahawalpur.
Burewala is situated on the
Dehli Multan Road.
Sutlej
River crosses Burewala near the towns Jamlera and Sahuka. Shrine
of Hazrat Baba
Haji Sher Dewan Chawli Mashaikh is also situated in Dewan Sahib
at a distance of 18 km. from Burewala. In the very beginning it was
just a jungle which was 'humanized' by local tribes called "Langrial".
When the
Pakpattan canal operating in this area, people started to settle
in villages as agriculture developed, resulting in jungles being cut
to make way for cultivation fields. As this area was in 'Eastern
Canal Division' so it was named village no. 122/EB (EB = Eastern
Bar). In the northern side of Burewala, there are still signs of an
old water canal which is now called Sukh Bias.It is 35 km east of District Capital
Vehari
on main
Dehli Multan Road. Burewala is the second biggest tehsil of
Punjab.
Etymology
The exact origin of Burewala's name is unknown; however, there
are different theories. One theory is that the city is named after a
person named "Burha." He was, according to some people, 'Sikh'. The
village is also called "Old Bura" or "Purana Boora." The people of
this villages constructed a well with a diameter of 8 feet and named
it after their ancestor so it was called "Chah Boorhay wala" (Well
of Burha). This well is now included in the P.I. Link canal. Due to
this well the new city was named Burewala. In July 1976, Burewala
was upgraded as a subdivision. The areas of
Gaggoo,
Jamlera,
Sahuka and
Sheikh Fazal were included in the subdivision.
City facts
Burewala has approximately 188,986 inhabitants (2006). It is
situated about 35 km from
Vehari District and 135 km east of historical city of
Multan.
Burewala has the first shrine of Hazrat Baba
Haji Sher Dewan, who was one of the earliest Muslim saints in
the
subcontinent. In sports, World renowned fast bowler of
Pakistan cricket team,
Waqar Younis is from Burewala and is dubbed as "Burewala
Express."
Burewala is known for the invention of three wheel motor-bike
rickshaw known as "Chandgari."Asia's largest Textile industry was in
the city of Burewala, owned by Dawood Group of Industries called (BTM)
Burewala Textile Mills, which is now known as
Lawrencepur Limited. Burewala also has shopping bazaars and
plazas. City Center is an addition in the city to match the life
style of the people living here. Burewala is surrounded by
boundaries of few industrial and agricultural cities (e.g. Vehari,
Arifwala, Chichawatni, Hasilpur, Chishtian). Burewala has a large
telephone exchange located on the Burewala-Multan Road near Lari
Adda. Along with this is Pakistan's largest
technical college on
tehsil
bases situated in 507/EB.
Tufail Muhammad Shaheed resided in Burewala.
Burewala has a tehsil headquarters hospital. The medical complex
was opened on 5 October 2008 by a number of private sector
specialists from Europe Business
Burewala has an all seasonal grain market in the area and it is a
major business centre. Other business activities include 7 Flour
Mills, 2 ghee mill, 50+ rice mills, 50+ cotton ginning factories and
about 250+ oil mills and an extensively growing network of rice
husking/processing mills, cotton gins, and flour mills. It is Pakistan's second largest
cotton-seed-cake producing city (after
Rahim Yar Khan). Dawood Lawrencepur Limited (formerly
known as Burewala Textile Mills Limited) is also located in the city
with an installed ring spinning capacity of 216,000 spindles. Three
PVC products factories are also situated in the city. Additionally,
Nillibar Agriculture Research Institute, under the guidance of
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council(PARC), works towards the
growth of agriculture and related fields.
Government
Municipal Committee
Burewala and Vehari were declared as Mandi's in 1925 and Railway
station were established and it was named as "Mandi Burewala" and in
1927 Secretary Government of Punjab Ram Chand declared it "Notified
Area Committee" and Mr. Vas, CIS was its first Chairman. In
1935, Chaudhary Ata Ullah was elected as the head of the Grand Girga,
overlooking social and legal problems of the area. The Government of
the Punjab on 27 August 1957 upgraded "Notified Area Committee" to
2nd Class "Municipal Committee" and Mr. Faiz Kareem was named its
first Chairman. According to 2000 local bodies system Burewala
Municipal Committee became "Municipal Committee".
Political
division
Burewala has two National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies
seat. NA-167 and NA-168 seats.However; NA-168 is shared by both
Vehari and Burewala sub-divisions. NA-167 Burewala consists of
Burewala, Gaggo mandi urban and rural areas while NA-168 shares
Burewala and Vehari sub-divisions most of the rural areas and it
includes 3-R Qannogo block of Burewala, Machiwal, Luddan, Sahuka
towns. Provincial Assembly four seats in the Burewala sub-division
includes PP-232, Gaggo Mandi urban & rural, PP-233 Burewala City
urban and rural, PP-234 Sahuka rural, PP-235 Machiwal and also two
seats shared by both Vehari and Burewala sub-divisions. There is
also a seat for the sadar of the grain market. The first sadar who
was first selected without an election was Tariq Mahmood Ghumman.
Burewala is also known for its volunteers and their humanitarian
work apolitically. There are seventeen registered NGOs in
the area and thousands of volunteers. World Life Organization
planted 100,000 hardwood trees under, "Green Vehari Initiative 2009"
in one day on the August 14, 2009. Ch. Usman Ali gathered 15 NGOs
and over a thousand volunteers for this event.
Shrine of Baba Haji Sher Dewan
The Shrine of Baba Haji Sher Dewan is the first shrine of
sub-continent. It is situated here some 17 kilometers
away from Burewala, located in Chak No. 317 EB, on the Burewala-Sahuka
road. Hazrat Baba Haji Sher Muhammad Dewan Chawali Mashaikh is the
saint of early years of the establishment of Islam. The place has a
rich spiritual significance in the area. Tapasthan Baba Guru Nanak
Dev is also situated there where Baba Guru Nanak performed Taphasya.
The present Sajjada Nasheen is Peer Gulzar Hussain Shah Sahib.
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