Reasi district


Reasi district is a district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Reasi district is bordered by Udhampur district and Ramban district in the east, Jammu district in the south, Rajouri district in the west and by Kulgam district on the north. The Reasi and Rajouri tehsiles formed a joint district called the "Reasi district" at the time of princely state's accession to India in 1947. As part of the reorganisation, the two tehsils were separated and Reasi was merged with the Udhampur district. It again became a separate district in 2006.
Reasi is one of the oldest towns of the Jammu and Kashmir State. It was the seat of the erstwhile Bhimgarh State, said to have been established by Raja Bhim Dev sometime in the 8th century. It remained an independent principality till 1822, when Raja Gulab Singh the then Raja of Jammu hill region, under the Sikh empire, consolidated the small states.

Geography

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. Climatically a major part of this Sub-Division falls in sub-tropical zone and the rest in temperate zone. Summers are generally warm and winters cold with snowfall on the high ridges. One of the most beautiful thing about Reasi is that in summers, the temperature of Reasi will be less than most of the districts in Jammu and in winters, its temperature will be higher than other districts in Jammu. So this makes Reasi favourable for all kinds of people visiting there.

Hindu sites

Major Hindu pilgrimage sites like Vaishno Devi, Shiv Khori, Baba Dhansar and Siyad Baba Waterfall are located in this district. Due to this Reasi district sees a great in-rush of people from all over across the country, especially in summer.

Access

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 and the project was commissioned in 1987 when the first stage of 345 Megawatt power station was completed and balance/the 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 passes through the Reasi district. The Railway line up to was inaugurated on 4 July 2014, by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station. From Katra the Railway line traverses to Reasi-Banihal area with stations at Reasi, Salal A–Salal B, Surukot, Barala, Sangaldan, Kohli and Laole. The 1315 meters long railway bridge under construction 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 development and prosperity in the area.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Reasi district has a population of 314,667, roughly equal to the nation of The Bahamas. This gives it a ranking of 570th in India. The district has a population density of. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 27.06%. Reasi has a sex ratio of 890 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 59.42%.
Reasi has a population which is a blend of almost equal percentage of Muslims and Hindus and has set an example for tolerant and peaceful religious co-existence.
Reasi's population stands at 314,667 constituting 49.67% of Muslims and 48.90% of Hindus.
The main languages spoken in Reasi are Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Dogri and Gojri.

History

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 with stone 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 Archaeology, J&K Government since 1989. Today the fort stands out as one of the important landmarks in the town. During the time this was damaged several times due to its age and natural violence. From time to the government understanding the importance of this fort has tried its best to reconstruct it. It's due to this fact that this fort is still standing in Reasi and it adds shine to the Reasi city.

Inside India

After the accession of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir to India in 1947, the Rajouri and Reasi tehsils of the former "Reasi district" were separated. Rajouri was merged with the Indian-administered Poonch district, India and Reasi was merged with the Udhampur district.
The people of this hilly area have long agitated for the restoration of the district status for Reasi. The Wazir Commission report, among other recommendations, proposed that it be upgraded to a district. Rishi Kumar Koushal, a prominent leader of the erstwhile Jan Sangh, now Bharatiya Janata Party, led the agitation to restore the district status in the late nineties.
Reasi has been upgraded to District level in the year 2007 due to the constant efforts made by the people.

Administration

Reasi is one of the Eight, newly created Districts in the State, which came in to existence from Ist of April 2007. It is predominantly a hill District, which enjoys variable climatic conditions, ranging from sub-tropical to the semi temperate.Geographical status of the District we can divide the District into 'Hilly' and 'Low Lying Hilly' Region.
The District is divided into ten Tehsils and 22 Niabats.There are 12 Development Blocks with 147 Panchayat Halquas.

Tehsils

  1. Reasi
  2. Gool-Gulabgarh
  3. Pouni
  4. Katra
  5. Bhomag
  6. Arnas
  7. Thuroo
  8. Chassana
  9. Thakrakote
  10. Mahore

    Blocks

  11. Reasi
  12. Gulabgarh
  13. Pouni
  14. Katra
  15. Bhomag
  16. Arnas
  17. Thuroo
  18. Chassana
  19. Thakrakote
  20. Mahore
  21. Panthal
  22. Jij

    Politics

Reasi District has 3 assembly constituencies: Reasi, Gulabgarh and Gool Arnas.

Places of interest