Gugdar

Gugdar is a remote village in Bagh District, Kashmir, with a population of nearly 2000.

Location and facilities

It is possible to travel to Gugdar from Bagh or Abbaspur, Both these routes meet at Muhammad Galli. Road is single.It also depends on the weather conditions as it can be difficult to travel in winter due to heavy snowfall particularly in December and January. There has been some progress in snow removal and road clearance over the last few years, as previously people of tehsil haveli were sometimes cutoff from capital Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi at times even for 8-10 days. This area solely depends on these two cities especially later city for supply of common Goods. From Bagh town it takes up to 2-3 hours. Nearby villages include Nakka, Badhal, Pallangi, Khalsa, Jabbar, Taran and Chaya.

There is middle school for boys, a high school for girls, a rural health centre and a bazaar. Health services certainly need improvement as a doctor is occasionally available in the basic health unit. It is mostly run by a dispenser who treats the patients. Most people have to travel all the way to Forward Kahuta nearly 45 minutes drive to get basic treatment and even much further for complicated treatments and surgery.

Private schools which were running relatively smoothly have been effected by the earthquake and are mostly either closed or desperately short of skilled teaching staff. Parents have no choice but to send their children to other towns for education.

Ethnicity and tribes

People living in this area belong to a tribe or caste called Khawaja.Khawaja,s are well respected and educated. Other tribes include Rathore, sheikh and Gujjar. Generally, people from the different castes get on well with each other.

Local Food and Hotels

There is no hotel in the area so you cannot stay overnight, but can drive to Forward Kahuta for a hotel or guest house. Food and tea is available to eat and take-away in the day time and some restaurants are open late nights particularly in summer(Hygene standards may not be very good).

There is also a Jamia Mosque in Gugdar which attracts huge crowds in friday and Eid prayers. This is a good time for locals to get together and celebrate. The National Bank of Pakistan has a branch in Gugdar which is certainly of great help to locals.

Historical events

Gugdar Bazar was burnt in fire in Late eighties by what looked like accidental fire which started in huge can of kerosene oil. As most of the shops were made of timber it took few minutes for fire to destroy whole bazar. Gugdar was hit by some missiles from the Indian army during tensions between India and Pakistan in year 2003, as the border between India and Pakistan is not too far away. Recent years have seen relative calm on both sides of the border as both India and Pakistan being nuclear powers, war does not look like an option.

This village was also affected by earthquake in October 2005.

Weather

Weather is mild in summer and locals enjoy it. In contrast winter is very cold and harsh. Snow fall can also be seen in months of december and february. There are no arrangements of central heating in the houses so nights can be very cold.

Sources

*http://www.aai.org.au/operations/pakistan.html
*http://www.erra.gov.pk/Reports/KMC/BaghProfile200907.pdf