District Background

          District Pulwama came into being in the year 1979 in the larger interests of maintenance of law and order, closer supervision, more effective control and above all to ensure balanced development of the area. Pulwama district comprised of 550 villages, which were grouped in 5 Tehsils viz. Shopian, Pulwama, Tral, Pampore & Awantipora. Now, again the district has been bifurcated in two parts viz. District Shopian & District Pulwama. In District Pulwama there are 4 tehsils, namely, Pulwama, Tral, Awantipora & Pampore. The total number of villages came down to 319 with 4 CD Blocks and part of Keller block. The reporting area of this district has been reduced to 0.67 lac Hectares from 0.98 Hectares after creation of the new Hill District, Shopian.

          As per 2001 census, the District Pulwama has a population of 4.42 lacs. The total literacy rate of the district is at 49.60%. It is 60.70% in respect of males and 37.70% in respect of females.

          Agriculture plays an important role in the economy of the District. The agriculture products like paddy, oil seeds, fodder, saffron & milk are the main contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the District. Area sown more than once is about 0.26 lac hectares & the productivity of the land in the district is higher than in any other District in the State. District Pulwama is famous for saffron cultivation which is mainly grown in Karewa lands of Pampore, Kakapora and Pulwama blocks. The area under saffron cultivation during 2006-07 was 2600 hectares. Among the fruits, apple, almonds, walnut & cherry are the important one produced in this District. This District has the distinction of having the State’s largest Cement Plant viz. J&K Cements Ltd. at Khrew with a capacity of 1200 M, tones cement per day. In this District two important projects have been taken up for execution during current year namely, State Entrepreneur Development Institute and International Trade Centre at Pampore.

Much has been written about this piece of land who has given birth to many Legendaries viz, Habba Khatoon, Lalta Ditya, Mahjoor, & others. The District is also origin of folk tales for example, the famous love legend Hemal-Nagrai, is believed to have taken birth here. Nagrai was a serpent prince who fell in love with a damsel, Heemal. The spring where the lovers weaved there love life is found near Shopian. The remains of this place still existing at the place.

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