Reasi is located at. It has an average elevation of 466 metres.
Reasi area
Reasi is a District, located 64 km from Jammu. The population of 10,000 is predominantly Hindu. Majority of the population ekes out its livelihood from small business ventures, govt jobs and agriculture. Of the 12293 hectares of agricultural land in the area, 1011 hectares is irrigated. Important crops are Maize, Wheat, Paddy and Bajra. Vegetables are also grown. Climatically, most parts of the area falls in the sub tropical zone and the rest in the temperate zone. Summers are generally warm and winters are cold with snowfall on the higher reaches.
Brief history
The erstwhile Bhimgarh State, now called Reasi, was established by Bhim Dev in the eighth century. Brief accounts of successive rulers are known from 1652 when Hari Dev was the king of Jammu. In 1810, during the rule of Diwan Singh, Jammu was under turmoil. Palace intrigues and mutinies shook the administration. It was at this time that Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent Gulab Singh to take control. Gulab Singh came down heavily on the rebels and established the rule of law. After defeating the rebels in the Reasi area, he handed over the administration to his trusted commander, General Zorawar Singh. In 2005, the first municipal election was held and Mr. Kuldeep Mengi elected as a first chairman of the municipal corporation of Reasi. During the devastating floods of September 2014, Saddal Village in the Reasi district faced significant devastation, with a landslide that submerged all roads leading to the town.
Demographics
Indiacensus, Reasi had a population of 36,355. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Reasi has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 70%. In Reasi, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. Reasi has 177 villages with total area of 74932 square km and toal population of 71501 individuals . Main spoken languages are Dogri, Urdu, Gojri and Kashmiri.
Being far away from the Jammu - Udhampur highway and somewhat inaccessible due to the hilly area, economic progress in Reasi has been rather slow. However, the economic activity picked up since the 1980s with the construction of the Salal Hydroelectric Project. The militancy in the 1990s came as a setback to prosperity but induction of Army in the area has given a sense of security to the people. But what may change the face of Reasi in the not so distant a future, is the Jammu - Srinagar Railway Line which will pass through Reasi and is likely to bring development and prosperity to this area, after providing district status development of Reasi would be tremendous. almost all major banks have their presence in reasi to meet financial need of newly created district.
