Reasi District

Reasi is one of the oldest towns of the J&K State. It was the seat of the erstwhile Bhimgarh State, said to have been established by Raja Bhim Dev somewhere in 8th century. It remained an independent principality till 1822, when Maharaja Gulab Singh the then King of Jammu consolidated small states. Up-till 1948 Reasi was a District of Jammu Province, but in the first administrative reorganization of the State undertaken in 1948 major part of the then district Reasi was merged with district Udhampur, while someareas became part of District Poonch (now Rajouri).

Geography & Demographics

Longitude : 33 05 N
Lattitude : 74 50 E
Reasi is located at a distance of 64 km from Jammu and is bounded by Tehsil Gool-Gulabgarh in the north, Tehsil Sunderbani and Kalakote of District Rajouri in the west, Tehsil Udhampur in the east, Tehsils Jammu and Akhnoor of District Jammu on the south. Reasi sub division has a population of 1,20,380 as per 2001 census. Climatically a major part of this Sub-Division falls in sub-tropicalzone and the rest in temperate zone. Summers are generally warm and winters cold with snowfall on the high ridges.

Bhimgarh Fort

An historical fort named as Bhimgarh Fort, but generally also known as‘Reasi Fort’ is located in the town of Reasi on a hillock approximately 150 meters high. As per local lore initially the fort was made of clay which later on was reconstructed withstone masonry and was generally used by the royal family for taking shelter during emergencies. Presently the fort is in the charge of the Department of Archeology, J&K Government since 1989. Today the fort stands out as one of the important land marks in the town.

How to reach there

Being far away from Jammu–Udhampur–Srinagar Highway 1-A and somewhat inaccessible due to the hilly area, economic progress in the mostly hilly region of Reasi has been rather slow. With the commissioning of Salal Hydroelectric Project at Dhyangarh near Reasi, the economic activity of the area has picked up considerably. Construction work of this project was started in 1970 by the National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) and the project was commissioned in 1987 when the first stage of 345 Megawatt power station was completed and balance/second stage of the project with 345 MW was commissioned in 1995 making the total generation to 690 MW. Power from this project flows to the Northern Grid from where it is distributed to the states of J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh.

The Jammu–Srinagar–Baramulla Railway line which is under construction will pass through Reasi. The Railway line up to Katra is likely to be commissioned during 2007. From Katra the Railway line will traverse to Reasi-Banihal area with stations at Reasi, Salal A–Salal B, Surukot, Barala, Sangaldan, Kohli and Laole. The 1315 meters long railway bridge will be constructed over river Chenab near Salal with a height of 383.10 meters from the river surface and shall be the highest bridge in the world. This railway line will bring Reasi on the rail map of the country and accelerate developmentand prosperity in the area.

truggle to get district status

The people of this hilly area have been demanding for restoration of the District status for Reasi, and even in the Wazir Commission report among other recommendations, it was proposed to upgrade the Sub-Division to District level but it was not implemented till now. Rishi Kumar Koushal, a prominent leader of eartwhil Jan Sangh and now Praja Parishad lead agination to restore the district status in vain in late nineties.

Administration

Reasi district has two tehsils viz., Reasi and Gool-Gulabgarh comprising 239 and 60 villages respectively.

This district consists of 4 blocks: Arnas, Mahore, Reasi and Pouni. [ [http://jkrd.nic.in/listAllDistricts.pdf Statement showing the number of blocks in respect of 22 Districts of Jammu and Kashmir State including newly Created Districts] dated 2008-03-13, accessed 2008-08-30] Each block consists of a number of panchayats.

Politics

Reasi District has 3 assembly constituencies: Reasi, Gulabgarh and Gool Arnas. [cite web| url=http://ceojammukashmir.nic.in/ERos_AERos.html | title=ERO's and AERO's | publisher=Chief Electoral Officer, Jammu and Kashmir | accessdate=2008-08-28]

Places of Interest

*Bhimgarh Fort
*Shivkhori
*Vaishnodevi
*Kalika Temple
*Baba Dhansar
*Dhyangarh
*Baba Bidda

References

External links

* [http://jammukashmir.nic.in Official Website of J&K Govt]
* [http://jk-reasi.nic.in Official Website of Reasi]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=102012408189092547198.00000112177299343651d&hl=en&z=13&ll=33.082048,74.826508&spn=0.061992,0.1157&t=h&om=1 Google Maps Reasi]

ee also