Tatrinote (Urdu, Potwari, Punjabi: تیتری نوٹ) is a village located at Latitude 33°45'14.27"N and Longitude 74° 0'10.06"E and an Elevation of 2930 feet on the Line of Control which separates Pakistani and Indian administered Kashmir. It is about 8 km from the Poonch city, Indian Kashmir and 157 km from Islamabad, Pakistan. The word "Tatrinote" is derieved from two words "tatri" and "note" which are two neighbourhoods of Tatrinote. The neighbourhood "tatri" is located at no man land on Line of Control while "note" is on Pakistani side of Kashmir. It is in a valley with the river Poonch running through it, and sits in the foothill of Pir Panjal range.
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Tatrinote features a humid subtropical climate with long and hot summers, a monsoon and short, mild, wet winters. Tatrinote during the summer season experiences a number of thunder or wind storms that sometimes cause damage to property. Wind speeds could reach an astonishing 150 km/h in some wind storms which results in the collapse of walls and roofs of the buildings.
Tatrinote is chaotic but relatively dust-free. The weather is highly variable due to the location of Tatrinote. The average annual rainfall is 39 inches (990 mm), most of which falls in the summer monsoon season. In summer, the maximum temperature can sometimes soar up to 44 °C (111 °F), while it may drop to a minimum of 0 °C (32 °F) in the winter.
Tatrinote's culture is unique, the village was the home of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims for many centuries before the partition of India and ultimate division of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Large numbers of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims lived closely in Tatrinote before the independence of Pakistan. There was a mass migration of local residents from this village towards Indian Kashmir (mainly Hindus and Sikhs) and Muslims towards Pakistani kashmir after the division of Kashmir in 1947.
There are few old architectures in Tatrinote especially architectural construction around the fresh water reserves thought to be made by Sikh architects. There is no record available to exactly know the age of these constructions but local myths take it to mid 18th century. The famous “Bawali” is one of it. The people of Tatrinote celebrate the festivals of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha. Almost 100% of population is ethnically Muslim and mainly speaks Potohari language while urdu is an official language.
There is a Boys Secondary School [1] and Girls Higher Secondary School, and several middle and primary schools in Tatrinote. The literacy rate [2] is over 65% in this area but the percentage of graduates (2.2%) is lower than national level.
The economy of Tatrinote is mainly rural contributed mainly by the agricultural sector, while the services sector is very limited. The majority of people of the village are farmers who grow wheat, corn and rice. Although trade has been started between two parts of Kashmir but it is restricted to few items. Authorities of India and Pakistan decide what should be traded and what should be restricted, at present food supplies are traded from this village. Neverthless on a small scale and restricted items trade, this cross border trade has brought some economic prosperity in the area.
A significant number of people from this village also work overseas especially England,New Zealand, Middle East and the United States. The main source of the income of people is remittance from overseas. A road connects Tatrinote to Indian Poonch through Chakan Da Bagh crossing points. The trade between two parts of Kashmir has brought a positive change in the socio-economic life of this area.
The Special Communications Organization (SCO) provides the landline and CDMA telephones in Tatrinote. SCO uses analogue technology for landlines telephones providing a poor call quality and does only provide few hundred landlines. However, CDMA telephones are better in some areas where signal strength is fair. Mobile phones on few networks also work in some areas but generally signal strength is poor and call drop ratio is well over average. There is neither Internet facility nor cable TV service in the village, however, satellite TV is widely watched in the village.
A road connects Tatrinote to Hajira and Abbaspur. There are plenty of buses, vans and private taxis available to commute to other areas. The Chakan Da Bagh crossing point is situated at walking distance from this village which serves a weekly bus service between two parts of Kashmir.
During the period of 1988-2003, considerable number of people migrated to other places especially Rawalpindi due to cross firing on Line of Control. Many people including men, women and children died of Indian bombing during this period.
Pakistan and India agreed to facilitate travel between the two parts of disputed Jammu and Kashmir by providing entry permits to divided Kashmiri families to travel across the Line of Control (LOC). Thousands of divided families are living on either side of the LOC since 1948 after a cease fire line was drawn which divides Kashmir between Azad Kashmir and Indian Kashmir. The cease fire line was turned into the Line of Control (LOC) after the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan in 1972. Both countries started bus services between the two Kashmirs in April 2005, for the divided families to reunite and truck service in October 2008. for trade to flourish. The Poonch-Rawalakot bus service was started on 20 June 2006 through Tatrinote and Chakan Da Bagh point. A total of 87 people on first day crossed the Chakan Da Bagh point on foot after coming on board the two buses on either side.