Dr Mandeep Singh Azad and Dr Manmeet Matan
I still remember whenever people of Jammu wanted to go for one day picnic they always used to visit Jhajjhar kotli.A very close picnic spot located in hills of Jammu. It used to be a complete tourist destination with beautiful scenic beauty and water fall which made it the best tourist destination but with the construction of national highway and tunnels this beautiful place has lost its glory and now it can been seen as passing by point . Jhajjar Kotli is a famous picnic spot and tourist complex in the state of jammu and Kashmir built on the banks of the rivulet named Jujjar and approx 27 km from Jammu on the national highway that leads toward the city of Srinagar. The main attraction of this beautiful tourist place is the clear and refreshing cool water of Jujjar and its surrounding natural beauty. To facilitate the tourists there is a wonderful tourist bungalow in Jhajjar Kotli maintained by the department of tourism. The Jhajjar Kotli tourist complex used to receive a large number of tourist and visitors during the summer months in past years but now there is very hard to find any tourists visiting this place.
Jhajjar Kotli, also spelled as Jajjar Kotli, is situated about 27 Kms on the National Highway leading towards Srinagar in Kashmir. Jhajjar Kotli can be touted as one of the famous tourist complexes in Jammu and Kashmir owing to its beautiful lush and cooling surroundings blessed with the pristine and refreshing waters of Jhajjar that is enveloped with extreme natural refinement. Jhajjar kotli personifies a perfect place for serene and relaxed vacation experience and is best for those looking for an escape from rushed and hectic scheduled lifestyle. This is a spot to experience a stress free and tension free life amidst a tranquil environment surrounded by a green belt of forest lands and water bodies to spend that much needed relaxing weekend gateway.
But with time unplanned urbanization and construction of Jammu-Kashmir highway has decreased its beauty and had made it just a passing by point. In the next few years, we can hope to travel to Srinagar by road even during harsh winter or at the height of monsoon, and that too at a high speed. The feat will be realized, thanks to Asia’s longest all-weather two twin tunnels being built on the NH-1A, which connects Jammu with Srinagar. The tunnels will reduce the distance between the two towns by almost 51km, lessening the travel time by at least five hours. The tunnels will not only make the journey less risky, but will also help boost tourism in the border state that saw a revival of the industry this year after a long gap. The stretch is also of immense strategic importance.
People have written zillions of words to best describe the beauty of Jammu & Kashmir, however the truth is that the power of words can never comprehend the mysticism that this state possesses. This northern-most state of India has been endowed with nature’s best and that is why it has been an object of interest for many travel enthusiasts. Protected and blessed by Mata Vaishno Devi, who seems to have found her earthly abode on the Trikuta Hills. In Jammu, urban sprawl coupled with unplanned developmental activities has led to urbanization, which lacks infrastructure facilities. This is particularly true for developing cities like Jammu. This also has posed serious implications on the resource base of the region. The urbanization takes place either in radial direction around a well-established city or linearly along the highways. This dispersed development along highways, or surrounding the city and in rural countryside is often referred as sprawl. This rapid urbanization ,construction of highways and roads have damaged natural beauty of hills .Many of the picnic spots like Nandni and Jhajjar Kotli have lost their importance as flyovers and tunnels have surpassed them and tourist tend to avoid go off the main lane to visit these picnic spots as a result of which these picnic spot are becoming a lost heritage.
The history of urbanization in the state is quite old as towns and urban places like Panderathan, Naranag, Awantipur flourished during the ancient period. During the ancient and medieval periods, urbanization was associated with the seats of administration, capitals and trading centers. During the period of Sikhs and subsequently after the arrival of English people, the rate of urbanization accelerated. Urbanization in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has a bi-metropolitan apex in which the cities of Srinagar and Jammu dominate, accounting for two-thirds of the total urban population. Towns of Jammu and Kashmir state are growing more on the basis of tertiary rather than the secondary sector. There is not much decentralized urban/industrial development in the state. Most of the district headquarters resemble the paragon towns of the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Urban centers are mostly concentrated in the plain areas. The urban places in the hilly and mountainous areas are generally small
It is clear that the largest single threat to biological diversity globally is the outright destruction of habitats, along with habitat alteration and fragmentation of large habitats into smaller patches.
Roads and other linear infra-structure, such as highways, tunnels, railroads and canals are among the most ubiquitous features of human activity and are known to have severe environmental impact on habitats and ecosystems worldwide.
Roads are considered a major contributor to habitat fragmentation because they divide large landscapes into smaller patches and convert the interior habitat into an edge habitat. Human development brings with it an increase in the number of roads to fulfill transportation needs, but this rise has costly implications for nature. The aims of road construction have been widely discussed. Trade economists, for example, have written extensively about the link between roads, market access and economic growth, as well as the health of household and national economies in most developing nations. However, roads pose a particularly challenging problem to those interested in biodiversity conservation in developing countries. So it’s very important to save these local picnic spots from being completely lost as they are our proud and are the face of our beautiful hills and rich cultural heritage.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
