Toba Tek Singh

The city and district is named after a Sikh figure Tek Singh. Legend has it that Tek Singh, a kind-hearted man, served water and provided shelter to the worn out and thirsty travelers passing by a small pond (Toba in Punjabi) which eventually was called Toba Tek Singh, and the surrounding settlement acquired the same name. British Raj Toba Tek Singh was developed by the British toward the end of the 19th Century when a canal system was built. Gas pipeline explosion On the evening of 23 October 1999 SNGPL employees were repairing a 26-inch diameter pipe at the wall assembly station on Jhang Maghiana Road of SNGPL's main pipeline passing through Toba Tek Singh city. An explosion set fire to the assembly station and surrounding houses, burning 13 people, including 11 employees, to death and injuring dozens. ==Demography==

Toba Tek Singh is located in central Punjab and occupies 3,252 square kilometers and is made up of large areas of lowlands that flood frequently during the rainy season; the floods originate from the Ravi River that runs along the southern and southeastern borders. The pre-partition Toba Tek Singh had a sizable Hindu and Sikh population, much of which migrated to India after the partition in 1947. Population Population of Toba Tek Singh city. == Economy ==

Agriculture Toba Tek Singh is one of the best producers of oranges, locally known as Kinnow. It contributes towards export standard quality of oranges. The majority of people living in this district work in agriculture and the region produces several kinds of agricultural and dairy products, including meat, eggs, cotton, maize, several pulses, peaches, guava, tomato, melon, water melon, mangoes, tobacco, onion. ==Notable people==

• Masood Fakhri (1932 – 6 September 2016), footballer • Sardar Muhammad Chaudhry, Ex-Inspector General, Punjab Police (June 1991 to 1 June 1993). • Amjad Javed Saleemi, Ex-Inspector General, Punjab Police (October 2018 to April 2019). • Chaudhry Amjad Ali Javed, member, Punjab Assembly. • Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, member, National Assembly of Pakistan, Minister for Maritime Affairs. • Shafqat Rasool, a Pakistani field hockey player. ==Educational Institutes==

• Divisional Public School & College, Toba Tek Singh • Bahria Foundation College, Toba Tek Singh • Convent of Jesus and Mary High School, Toba Tek Singh. First international established school in Toba Tek Singh by (SIR ARSAL) • Ken Public High School • Govt Graduate College, Toba Tek Singh ==In fiction==

Saadat Hasan Manto, an Urdu language novelist, wrote a short story entitled "Toba Tek Singh" which is a satire on the partition of Punjab; in the story, an inmate in an asylum frets over the question of whether his home town Toba Tek Singh is now in India or Pakistan. It was adapted into a short movie of the same name directed by Pakistani filmmaker Afia Nathaniel in 2005. In 2006, Sarmad Sehbai dramatized "Toba Tek Singh" for Pakistan Television which was aired on Pakistan Television on 3 December 2006 and it was adapted into a film, Partition, by Ken McMullen and Tariq Ali for the British Channel 4 in 1987. It has also been made into an Indian short film by Ketan Mehta. Rapper Riz Ahmed released a track titled the same name in his 2020 album, "The Long Goodbye". ==See also==