Leepa Valley

Leepa Valley – A Dream Land

Location:

Deep in the heart of the valley lies Leepa village at 1921m above sea level. This is the most fascinating & loveliest valley. A metalled road branches off for Leepa from Naily, 45 kms from Muzaffarabad, climbs over the Reshian Gali (3,200 m) and then descends to 1,677 m on the other side into the Leepa Valley.

About 60 kilometers from Naily and 38 kilometers from Reshian, Leepa is a small village about at an altitude of 1921 meters. Its lush green rice fields in summer and typical wooden Kashmiri houses present a wonderful view to the people visiting the area. Walnut, Apple, Cherry and honey of Leepa are very popular.

Climate:

As autumn sets in the vale of Leepa, leaves fall off the trees, snowfall begins, the time is ripe to visit the vale for in winters the vale offers one of the most fascinating scenery in Azad Kashmir.

Its lush green river fields in summer and typical wooden Kashmiri houses present a wonderful view. Walnut, apples, cherries and honey of Leepa are very popular.

Appreciating the allure of autumn trees in narrow alleys is the best pastime in this vale of wonders – wonders that this picturesque valley showcases to the outside world.

Each year, on start of autumn in Kashmir, Leepa, which lies at a distance of about 90 KM from capital Muzaffarabad, starts to dress up in a new and richly colored attire-a mix of red, orange and yellow shades. It’s the time when apple picking season in the valley comes to an end.

Down hills, every year with coming of winter in the valley, when previous year’s snow melted on top of the mountains, soon fresh snow will be falling to interlace them all. It’s the time also when residents of this far flung vale have to brace the chilling winter which brings heavy snow and thus brings increased hardships for its 75000 residents. Due to lack of infrastructure, the valley is disconnected from the rest of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.

Description:

Most fascinating & loveliest valley in Azad Kashmir, Leepa spell bounds everyone who visits this valley. Leepa Valley offers an unending variety of scenic spectacular beauty, an everlasting memory of sights and sounds & the unforgettable hospitality of its people

Water in the valley is crystal clear and swiftly flowing streams like Nullah Qazi Nag are a major source. The scene around the Nullah is stunningly beautiful. The Nullah emerges from Indian occupied Kashmir and runs trough the whole of Leepa Valey. On other side of the LoC, lies Kupwara district of Occupied Kashmir. Singing waterfalls, lush green pastures, thick woods, the snow clad majestic Shamsa Bari, the highest mountain of the valley are an inexhaustible source of delight for any visitor who comes to this paradise like valley. The paradise like mini Kashmir in Leepa has numerous water driven flour mills, the only kind of industry in the valley.

Kazi Nag Nullah basin also hosts hundreds of poplar trees with ready to fall yellow foliage. Yellow chinar trees acquire a crimson hue as if on a fire, a unique view along the mountains, tracks and the valleys in Leepa.

The joyous chirping of birds, orchards heavy with fruits, alpine meadows dotted with grazing herds, and shepherds lilting with their music, a vivid mosaic of this place – takes shape before your wandering eye. It presents a picture of an unforgettable tapestry which is one of the most charming places in the continent.

Allover the valley, high walnut trees likewise put on attire in yellow, red and orange, which adds extra sparkle to our stay in Leepa. We also come across yellow herbs and shrubs tucked nicely into green vegetation comprising of large conifer trees, adding variety to this miracle of changing colors during autumn in the valley.

Walkways amidst jungle are filled with compost leaves signaling a momentous magnitude of autumn in the valley. The foliage from deciduous trees stays on the ground leaving a damp and decayed trail. The skyline in the whole vale transcends from ardent green to russet red, gold, orange, dark yellow and brown. Strong winds and mild storms also wreack further havoc with the delicate branches, turning them yellow and this too adds to the already damp compost like soil. A walk on these fallen decayed leaves reminds of the harsh winter ahead. Birds are also going nomadic ready to move on an arduous and long journey bracing the chilling winds on the way, to safe havens in down country areas where they can feed and breed.

Leepa is also famous for its typical Kashmiri style of architecture, mostly in the form of 3 storied wooden houses. A look at the houses here makes one believe, Leepa as a true extension of Indian occupied Kashmir into Pakistan.

Leepa Valley offers an unending variety of scenic spectacular beauty and one gains an everlasting memory of sights and sounds as well as the unforgettable hospitality of its people. The valley remains open for domestic tourists from May to November.

Culture:

The people in Leepa are highly religious and speak Kashmiri as well as Hindkoh. Urdu is nevertheless widely spoken and understood. The valley has a population of about 75000 inhabitants who generally indulge in farming, cattle rearing and tourism related services. Unemployment and poverty are rampant. Power shortages are a daily routine (there is only one power generation unit at Channian) and malnutrition is common as in rest of the country.

Murree tour

New Murree is about 15 kilometer away from main Murree hills on the Lower Topa side. It is a well developed hill station with great high rised trees, beautiful hills.

This is famous due to chair lift, which worth a ride. A world class chair lift & cable car system takes you from New Murree to Patriata. Total ride is about 7 km long. New Murree is on ground level between the hills. Here you have to buy the ticket for Chair Lift + Cable Car which is Rs. 200/- then a chair lift ride takes you to a middle hill. You can watch Kashmir mountains from middle Hill where Chair Lift takes you. You may stay here for some time & enjoy Tea/Coffee or just walk around. From there Cable car takes you to Patriata Hill. where you have much stuff to do. Walk freely everywhere. Just walk in the direction where most of the tourists are going. Straight road takes you to the highest point of the hill. Where scenary is panoramic. On one side you can watch Murree Hills & on the other side snow covered Kashmir Hills.

The Chair Lift & Cable Car journey is memorable of life time. You can witness lots of great scenaries of near & far hills. In winter all hills are covered with snow while in summer lush green scenaris could be seen.

You may ride a horse but ASK/FIX CHARGES before leaving otherwise they will charge you too much. Similarly don’t hire a guide within patriata. People will come around you like they are helping you in taking pictures but then they ask huge amount for those services.

Private car from Murree charges about Rs. 800/- for return journey. Driver will leave you at the gate of TDCP PATRIATA RESORT at New Murree & then take you back to Murree when you’ve finished.

You can’t stay there for long. Last cable car is at 5 pm which take every visitor back. At that time a person goes all the way whistling to check if there is any one left and then take last cable car.

Tatta pani in Azad kashmir.............!
very nice amazing place.......!
because warm water naturaly . . . . . .!

Article Mangla Dam

Mangla Dam

Mangla Dam
Country	Pakistan
Location	Mangla, Azad Kashmir
Coordinates	33.142083°N 73.645015°E  Coordinates: 33.142083°N 73.645015°E
Status	Operational
Construction began	1961
Opening date	1967
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Embankment dam
Height	138 m (453 ft)
Length	3,140 m (10,302 ft)
Impounds	Jhelum River
Reservoir
Creates	Mangla reservoir
Capacity	7.25 km3(5,880,000 acre·ft)
Surface area	97 sq mi (251 km2)
Power station
Turbines	10 x 100 MW
Installed capacity	1,000 MW
Maximum capacity	1,150 MW

The Mangla Dam is located on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District ofAzad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the 16th largest dam in the world. It was built from 1961 to 1967 with funding from the World Bank. The project was designed and supervised by Binnie & Partners of London, and it was built by Mangla Dam Contractors, a consortium of 8 U.S. construction firms, sponsored by Guy F. Atkinson Company of South San Francisco. Mangla Dam Contractors employed Pakistanis, Americans, British, Canadians, Germans, and Irish.

Historic development

As part of the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960, India gained rights to the waters of theRavi, Sutlej and Beas rivers, while Pakistan, in addition to waters of the above three rivers within Pakistan and some monetary compensation, received the rights to develop theJhelum, Chenab and Indus river basins through construction of the Indus Basin Project. Until 1967, the entire irrigation system of Pakistan was fully dependent on unregulated flows of the Indus and its major tributaries. The agricultural yield was very low for a number of reasons, the most important being a lack of water during critical growing periods. This problem stemmed from the seasonal variations in the river flow due to monsoons and the absence of storage reservoirs to conserve the vast amounts of surplus water during those periods of high river discharge.

The Mangla Dam was the first development project undertaken to reduce this shortcoming and strengthen the irrigation system. The dam was damaged due to an Indian Air Force raid during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. As a consequence, the hydro project was temporarily out of service from the country.

The Mangla Dam project

Mangla Dam is the sixteenth largest dam in the world. It was constructed from 1961 to 1967 across the Jhelum River, about 67 miles (108 km) south-east of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad in Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The main structures of the dam include 4 embankment dams, 2 spillways, 5 power-cum-irrigation tunnels and a 1,000 MW power station.

A view of Turbine Outflow Streams at Mangla Power House

The main dam is 10,300 feet (3,100 m) long and 454 feet (138 m) high (above core trench) with a reservoir of 97 square miles (250 km²). Since its first impounding in 1967, sedimentation has occurred to the extent of 1,130,000 acre feet (1.39 km³), and the present gross storage capacity has declined to 4,750,000 acre feet (5.86 km³) from the actual design of 5,880,000 acre feet (7.25 km³). The live capacity has declined to 4,580,000 acre feet (5.65 km³) from 5,340,000 acre feet (6.59 km³). Butt, M. J., Mahmood, R., and Waqas, A. 2011, "Sediments Deposition due to Soil Erosion in the Watershed Region of Mangla Dam.

The power station of Mangla dam consists of 10 units each having capacity of 100 MW.

In order to remedy the storage capacity decreases, the Pakistani government has decided to raise the dam by 40 feet (12 m), to 494 feet (151 m) high. This will increase the reservoir capacity by 18% and provide an additional 120 MW(644 GWh) of power, but will displace 40,000 people currently living near the reservoir.

The project was designed primarily to increase the amount of water that could be used for irrigation from the flow of the Jhelum and its tributaries. Its secondary function was to generate electrical power from the irrigation releases at the artificial head of the reservoir. The project was not designed as a flood control structure, although some benefit in this respect also arises from its use for irrigation and water supply. The Government of Pakistan had agreed to pay royalties to the Government of AJK (Azad Jammu and Kashmir) for the use of the water and electricity generated by the dam. Over 280 villages and the towns of Mirpur and Dadyal were submerged and over 110,000 people were displaced from the area as a result of the dam being built. Some of those affected by the dam were given work permits for Britain by the Government of Pakistan, and as a result, in many cities in the UK the majority of the 'Pakistani' community actually originated from the Dadyal-Mirpur area of the disputed region of Jammu & Kashmir.