State Of Jammu And Kashmir

STATE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR AN INTRODUCTION By: M. Yasin Bhat (M.Sc.) Popularly known as Kashmir, the state of Jammu and Kashmir is the Northern most part of India. It lies between 320 17’ and 370 5’ latitudes of Earths Northern hemisphere and between its 700 40’ and 800 30’ longitudes. It is situated at an altitude ranging from 1000 to 26250 feet above mean sea level, with an area of 222236 sq kms. The state is land locked with the Tibet in the East, China and Afghanistan in the North and Pakistan on the West. On the South lie Indian status of Punjab and Himachal Pardesh. Administratively, the state has been divided into two divisions.-the Kashmir comprising of 8 districts and Jammu comprising of 6 districts. The 14 districts of the state have been further divided into 59 Tehsils, 119 blocks, 3 Municipalities, 75 Towns, 7043 inhabited villages 281 uninhabited villages and 2700 Panchayats. The population density of the state is 99 persons per sq kms with 1, 00, 69,917 souls (2001 census). Out of the total population, 5300574 are males while as the female population is 4769343. Literacy rate is 54.46% ( males = 65.75% and females = 41.82%). The income per capita is Rs 7,297 (at constant prices). 24.15 lac haters of land have been utilised out of which gross sown area is 10.78 lac haters. Area under forest is 22%. The state enjoys the hot to very cold climate. The temperature ranges from -400 in winter in Ladakh to +400 in summer in Jammu. The state is mostly mountainous rising in several tiers from the planes in the South to the high altitude valleys and peaks the North enclosing some of the loftiest mountainous peaks which remain snow clad throughout the year. (Mount K2 the second highest mountain peak lays within the boundary walls of

the State). These mountain peaks give birth to numerous glaciers, torrents, and streams and innumerable springs and lakes. The total water spread area is 0.40 lac ha which constitutes about 0.18% of the total area of the state. The most important river system is the Indus river system which flows to Pakistan with its origin in Ladakh province. The important rivers of the state are the Jehlum, the Chenab, and the Raavi .Of these the River Jehlum with its origin at verinag is the main river flowing mainly in district Srinagar. The Indus takes off at 17000 feet in Himalayas in South-East and flows diagonally to the North East. The Chenab starts at extreme South of the State and passes first in the North West and then towards South West flowing into Pakistan. The Jehlum originates from Verinag, a spring, in the North-East of Anantnag Town of the Kashmir Valley and passes through four out of six districts of the valley to Pakistan. An important tributary of the Raavi called Ujh also passes through the southern boarder of the State. Apart from these rivers numerous lakes and springs also originate here viz., Wullar the largest fresh water lake, the Dal lake, famous for tourism, and the high altitude Pangong lake which is the only brakish water lake of the state. The other important lakes are Manasbal Lake, Anchar Lake, and Hokar Sar. The water bodies of the state provide the habitat for 125 species of fishes including same species only found in this part of the globe. These are the Schizothorax species.