Brief
About Bandipore District
Bandipora District is a newly formed district of the state of Jammu
and Kashmir of India.
Administration
Bandipora district consists of 5 blocks: Bandipora, Gurez, Tuilal,
Sunbal and Hajin. Each block consists of a number of panchayats.
Politics
Bandipora District has 3 assembly constituencies: Gurez, Bandipora
and Sonawari
History
Among the recently created eight Districts, Bandipora is one,
which is required to be carved out from the existing Baramulla
District. Situated at an averageheight of 1701 meters above the
sea level, the District shall spread over approximately anarea
of 398 sq. kilometers. It is bounded in the west by District Kupwara,
in the South-east by District Ganderbal and in the east by District
Kargil, Baramulla in the south andon north side it is bounded
by LOC. Bandipora, the District headquarter, is about 55 kmsfrom
Srinagar accessible by road as well as by River Jehlum.
Bandipora all along used to be a well known town which almost
served as a port in old times. It used to be one of the important
places of the old kingdom known asKhuaihom. During Mughal period,
there were two main ports which were the source ofcommunication
between Srinagar and the Central Asian States for commercial purposes.These
ports were namely, Aloosa (Ghat) and Nasoo (Bandipora). For about
a century,Aloosa remained headquarter for Pargana Khuaihom. The
route to Central Asia traversedthrough Aloosa and once Mughal
emperors conferred the area of Khuaihom as ‘Jagir’ tothe family
of Bandey’s in Srinagar, since then the area has come to be known
as‘Bandipora’. Bandipora in ancient and medieval times as Khuaihom
had three routeswhich used to connect Kashmir with China, Mongolia,
Kazakhistan, Kirgistan,Turkamania, Afghanistan and Iran. Bandipora
is known as “Gateway of Gilgit” andAstore. Commerce was transacted
with Central Asia and Ladakh region via Bandipora.Bandipora situated
around the north shore of the Wular Lake, in front of the mountains,
isan edging of sloping ground covered with villages.
The topography of the new District represents a mix of beautifulmountains
and streams offering tremendous potential for developing scenic
andadventure tourism. River Kishen Ganga flows through this District
which has vast potential for generating hydro-electricity and
also marine life. With the DistrictAdministration located nearby
it should be possible for them to deploy resources moreeffectively.
Nallahs Madhumati and Arin famous for trout fish flow in this
District. TheWuller Lake, largest of all fresh lakes in Asia lends
further attraction to this District andprovides economic activity
to large chunk of population.
Gurez, presently a Tehsil and a Sub-Division, is a large Valley
lying to thenorth of Kashmir is shaped somewhat like letter “W”
the base and the western arm beingtraversed by the Kishen Ganga
River and the eastern arm by the Burzil stream. The valleyis surrounded
on every side by lofty peaks and mountain slopes. The south east
end of theValley is occupied by superb peaks of Pir Panjal range
dividing the Tilail Valley fromthat of Gurez which provides attraction
for adventure trekking. The entire area hasstrategic importance
as beyond Rajdhani pass the complete west and northern borders
ofthe state run along the Line of Control.
Though Kashmiri is the main language spoken in this District
however,Pahari and Gojri are also being spoken in the upper areas
of Tehsil Bandipora. Sheena(Darad) is the local language in Gurez
and Tilail areas. Agriculture is the main activity ofthe people.
However, Wuller Lake surrounding a large portion of the District,
a sizablepopulation is dependent on catching and marketing fish.
Nadru, Singhara (Water nut) andPachi (used for famous Kashmiri
mat – Wagu) are Wullar products and are source ofincome for a
section of population.
Despite creation of District Kupwara as an independent District
in 1979(with Tehsils Kupwara, Handwara and Karnah as its jurisdiction),
District Baramullacontinued to be the largest District in entire
Kashmir Valley comprising nine Tehsils and16 C.D. and N.E.S Blocks,
including a number of places which are 80-120 kms distantfrom
District headquarters. Mostly these places fall in Tehsil Gurez
and upper reaches ofTehsil Bandipora. Based on these factors Wazir
Commission has also recommendedcreation of a new District at Bandipora
with Tehsils Bandipora, Sonawari and Gurez asits territorial jurisdiction.
For demarcation of geographical boundaries of the newly created
DistrictBandipora the Committee held several meetings with the
Divisional/DistrictAdministration and also obtained their proposals.
The Committee received suggestionsfrom the general public, associations,
organizations, welfare committees etc. The viewsof concerned MP,
MLA’s, MLC’s and other leaders of the public opinion were alsoascertained.
While various persons had expressed that entire Sonwari Tehsil
beamalgamated with newly created District Ganderbal, some people
were of the opinionthat Niabat Sumbal and Shadipora of Tehsil
Sonwari be included in newly createdDistrict Ganderbal. Another
group of people were of the opinion that 13 villages ofNiabat
Sumbal be included with District Ganderbal because of their proximity
with thenew District. While another shade of people were of the
opinion that Niabat Hajin withsome territorial adjustments be
upgraded as a Tehsil to form part of District Bandipora assame
is nearer to District headquarter. Views were expressed that village
Sheikh Zoopresently falling in Tehsil Ganderbal be included with
Tehsil Sonwari for administrativeconvenience. Yet another demand
was that village Rampora Rajpora of Tehsil Sopore beincluded in
Tehsil Bandipora as same has better links with Bandipora. The
Committeeextensively toured these areas to ascertain and see for
themselves as to which villagesshould be excluded from Tehsil
Sonwari and included in District.
