Tral

Tral ترال
town
Tral Location in Jammu and Kashmir
Coordinates: 33°56′N 75°06′E / 33.93°N 75.1°E / 33.93; 75.1Coordinates: 33°56′N 75°06′E / 33.93°N 75.1°E / 33.93; 75.1
Country	India
State	Jammu and Kashmir
District	Pulwama
Elevation	1,662 m (5,453 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	17,844
Languages
• Spoken	Kashmiri
• Official	Urdu
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	192123
Telephone code	1933

Tral (Kashmiri: ترال) is a town and a notified area committee in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, situated 10 km away from National Highway 1A.

Geography

Tral is located at 33°56′N 75°06′E / 33.93°N 75.1°E / 33.93; 75.1.^[1] It has an average elevation of 1662 metres (5452 ft). The place is having an average area of about 110 km².

Tral is situated at the edge of plateau divided into upper and lower mohallas. The valley is surrounded by the snow peak mountains also famous for its natural springs, dense forests and beautiful villages. Famous picnic spots in the vicinity include Shikargah, Aripal and Hajan. The area is known for its 82 springs, including hot water springs and springs remaining hot in winter and cold in summer.

The houses that are built on this range are mostly made up of bricks (some sun dried and some baked). The roofs are usually made of tin while some are occasionally thatched. Tral is shaded by fine trees. The area possess enormous number of springs located in its 82 villages. Plateau lands on the east side of the town is bare and dry but the slope to the west and to its beneath has a large mass of rice cultivation.

Villages

Demographics

As of 2011 India census,^[3] Tral had a population of 17,844 with 9,944 males constituting 55.7% of the population and 7,900 females constituting 44.3% of the population.

Education

Tral town considered one of the most educated town in district Pulwama. Tral has an 10,391 literates among which 6,760 are males and 3,631 are females.^[3]

After the independence, like rest of the country, scenario of tehsil Tral has also changed a lot. Number of positive developments has taken place in all sectors especially Education, Health and Employment sector. According to AINE-TRAL (a collection of historical facts) in 1903 foundation of a primary school was laid by the government. At that time 70 students were enrolled. During the year 1933 its standard was raised from primary to lower middle school. Then in 1944 its standard was again raised to higher secondary level. In present scenario there are hundreds of educational institutions in tral, 7 higher secondary’s (3 in Tral Town, one each in Dadasara, Lorgam,Satoora, Noorpora), Degree colleges, ITI institutes and many more professional institutes. Literacy rate at one time was 1% and now it has raised to 92% according to survey a conducted by Ikhlas welfare society Tral in June 2009.

Etymology

The name Tral is said to originate from trī lāl (تریہ لال), meaning "Three Pearls".

Security situation

Tral is considered the most volatile area in Jammu & Kashmir and a militancy hotbed. Inscriptions: "Tral: the land of martyrs", are commonplace in the area. Burhan Muzaffar Wani, commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, comes from Tral.^[4]

References