| Voice of Kishtwar :
Sanjeev Parihar

Kishtwar is a militancy hit area. They live in utmost poverty.
Women literacy rate is very low.
Women are not empowered.
Due to militancy many children are facing hardships. They are unable
to go to schools.
Government has designed many schemes but they are not properly implemented.
And the government does not involve any NGOs in implementing their
schemes. This hampers the development of the district.
Population in Kishtwar (Census 2011)
Total Population
Total : 231037
Male : 120496
Female : 110541
Under 6 population
Total : 39124
Male : 20357
Female : 18767
Brief About Kishtwar District
Kishtwar District is a newly formed district of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir of India.
Administration
Kishtwar district consists of 8 blocks: Kishtwar, Inderwal, Paddar,
Marwah, Warwan, Dachan, Nagsani and Drubshall. Each block consists
of a number of panchayats.
Politics
Kishtwar District has 2 assembly constituencies: Inderwal and Kishtwar
History
Kishtwar district in the state of Jammu & Kashmir is positioned
at an altitude of 5374 feet. The positional coordinates of Kishtwar
district includes a longitude of 75.7667 and a latitude of 33.3167.
Jammu, Udhampur, Srinagar and Awantipur are the locations from one
can avail of the air services to reach the district of Kishtwar.
The key economic activity of Kishtwar district in Jammu & Kashmir
is agriculture. The crops are sold in the local markets by the farmers
to earn their day-to-day living. Sheep rearing is another major
occupation of the population of Kishtwar. The general characteristics
traits of the people of Kishtwar comprises of their simplicity and
a very hardworking nature. Since Kishtwar is set on considerably
high altitude so the common climate of the place variates in the
lowest levels of temperature scale.
The handicraft items made by the local people of Kishtwar have a
huge demand among those tourists who come to this quaint yet appealing
place of Jammu & Kashmir. The natural surrounding of Kishtwar
is adorned by majestic mountainous ranges and foliages that collectively
makes it a perfect tourist spot of the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
The festivals of Kishtwar primarily reflects the folk traditions
of the place. Apart from its own natural splendors, Kishtwar also
flaunts many adjacent tour destinations. The names of Kutal, Dul,
Keshwan, Mughal Maidan and Kwar are very popular and inevitably
comes in the itinerary of tourists.
Kishtwar, with its steady economic state and cultural richness,
is consistently proceeding towards becoming one of the prominent
Jammu & Kashmir districts.
Pursuant to Government order referred to in Chapter I Kishtwar
has beendeclared as one of the new Districts, while Atholi (Paddar)
which falls in Kishtwar Sub-Division has been declared as new Tehsil.
It may be pertinent to mention that vide Govt.Order No. Rev(5)203
of 2005, dated 09-08-2005 three new Tehsils namely Chhatroo,Marwah
and Paddar were created, and in fact these three Tehsils have started
functioningindependently after territorial Tehsildars were posted
there. But, vide recent Govt. Orderthe Committee has been asked
to demarcate boundaries among others in respect of TehsilAtholi
(Paddar) as well. Thus, the new District Kishtwar would comprise
four Tehsilsincluding Kishtwar and the Committee is to demarcate
boundaries of the new DistrictKishtwar and Tehsil Atholi (Paddar).
Kishtwar Sub-Division is bounded by Zanskar on the North, HimachalPardesh
on the East, Doda and Bhaderwah on the South, Kishtwar and Banihal
on theWest.
Kishtwar in the past used to be an independent hill principality
and wasmerged with the State of Jammu and Kashmir in1821, A.D. With
the passage of timeKishtwar became a Tehsil of District Udhampur
and remained its part till 1948, when itbecame part of newly created
District Doda in the wake of first re-organization of thestate during
the post-independence period.
Kishtwar branches off in Marwa-Wadwan valley, Paddar valley, Chhatroovalley
and is flanked by lofty Himalayas from all sides. The monsoon hardly
reaches thispart of the State which makes it a drought prone area
and insufficient in food grains inparticular the Marwah-Wardwan
area which remains cut off for 5-6 months in a year dueto snowfall
in winter. In order to avoid any starvation death sufficient stocks
of food grains and other essential commodities are stored well in
advance in these areas so thatthe public may not suffer on this
account.
Kishtwar is having lot of potential for generation of Hydro Electric
Power.One of the major power projects is Dul-Hasti which is at the
commissioning stage. Withthe commissioning of this project the economy
of the area is sure to boost up and thepace of development of Kishtwar
is sure to accelerate in the coming days. The areapopularly known
as ‘Land of Sapphire and Saffron’ is also very rich
in forest products.The richest forests in Jammu and Kashmir are
found on the high mountains and hills of Kishtwar.
Kishtwar is linked with other parts of the state by an all weather
road,National Highway 1-B, which remains open throughout the year.
Kishtwar is alsoconnected with Kashmir Valley by Chhatroo-Synthan
road, which is being upgraded intoNational Highway. With the up
gradation of this road it will become an alternate route forthe
tourists visiting Kashmir Valley.
For purposes of ascertaining views of the District Administration
andpeople’s representatives in respect of fixing geographical
boundaries of new DistrictKishtwar, the Demarcation Committee visited
various areas of the Sub-Division. A largenumber of representations
were presented to the committee, besides verbal suggestionsmade
by the sitting and Ex-MLAs/MLCs who met the Committee, during its
visit toKishtwar and Doda. Although there were some demands for
additions/deletions of certainareas in the existing boundaries of
the Sub-Division (now District) Kishtwar, yet on thewhole the consensus
opinion was that existing boundaries of Kishtwar Sub-Division bemade
boundaries of new District Kishtwar, but for a forceful demand projected
by thepeople of Bunjwa for exclusion of their area from Tehsil Kishtwar
and its inclusion inTehsil Thathri keeping in view the geographical
location and connectivity of the area. Nodoubt, there were some
dissenting views also, but the Committee during its visit hadobserved
that in view of the following considerations, there is a strong
case for exclusionof Patwar Halqa Patnazi comprising five villages
namely Patnazi, Kither, Binoon, Nali and Jirwar with a population
of 6715 souls, and Patwar Halqa Jawalapur consisting of sixvillages
namely Jawalapur, Kewa, Mori, Balagran, Chamoti and Tipri with a
populationof 7257 from Kishtwar and their inclusion in Tehsil Thathri:-i.The
public of the Bunjwa area is not directly connected even with a
fairweather road and people have to travel on foot to reach Thathri-Gandohroad
at a point known as Donadi. As such, in order to reach Kishtwar,Doda
or Badherwah they have to first reach Thathri and then take avehicle
for onward journey to any of these places.ii.While Tehsil headquarter
Thathri is located at a distance of 9 kms fromDonadi, Kishtwar and
Doda are around 40 to 45 kms away.iii.Although these villages presently
form part of Tehsil Kishtwar but forpurposes of community development
these villages are already part ofC.D. Block Thathri.iv.The District
Development Commissioner, Doda has also stronglyrecommended merger
of Bunjwa area with Thathri Tehsil keeping in viewthe administrative
convenience, majority public demand, proximity of thearea with Tehsil
headquarter Thathri.
Thus, the new District Kishtwar would comprise four Tehsils namelyKishtwar
(except two Patwar Halqas namely Patnazi and Jawalapur), with sixteenPatwar
Halqas having seventy three villages, Tehsil Marwah with eleven
Patwar Halqashaving twenty seven villages, Tehsil Chhatroo with
seven Patwar Halqas having thirteenvillages and new Tehsil Atholi
(Paddar) with five Patwar Halqas having thirty twovillages. With
this the total number of Patwar Halqas and villages in the new Districtcomes
to thirty nine & one hundred forty five respectively.
Paddar Valley is the fartherest corner of District Kishtwar on
south-easternside touching its borders with Himachal Pradesh, Zanskar
Valley of Ladakh and Marwah-Wadwan Valley. Paddar is known for sapphire
deposits and other forest products likeZeera and Guchhi. Although
vast areas of the Valley are under forest cover yet fewvillages
are also known for producing green/dry vegetables/pulses such as
Peas andRajmash. Paddar Valley comprises five Patwar Halqas and
thirty two villages.
|