Former Professor of Geography, Gopal Krishan, Punjab University, Chandigarh, has researched how the development of Western Punjab districts (also called Canal Colonies or Bars) affected the population growth of the pre-Partition Punjab province . Tthe western districts were originally barren areas that were developed by farmers who migrated from Central and Eastern Punjab districts. The land was offered by the British to the farmers specially from Jullunder and Hoshiarpur districts. The resulting intra-province migration to western Punjab also changed the dynamics of Punjab's demography.
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