Khrew

Khrew
—  city  —
Khrew Location of Khrew in Jammu and Kashmir and India
Coordinates	34°01′N 74°59′E
Country	India
State	Jammu and Kashmir
District(s)	Pulwama
Population	7,208 (2001)
Literacy	65%%
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 1,607 metres (5,272 ft)

Khrew or Khreuh is a town and a notified area committee in Pulwama district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Geography

Khrew is located at 34.02°N 74.98°E / 34.02; 74.98. It has an average elevation of 1,607 metres (5,272 feet).

As of 2011 India census, Khrew had a population of 18820. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Khrew has an average literacy rate of 47%, lower than the national average of 65.8%: male literacy is 22.08%, and female literacy is 24.02%. In Khrew, 20% of the population is under 15 years of age.

Majority of people in Khrew are followers of Islam. 99% of the population are Sunni Muslims, 1% Hindus and others.

Surrounding Areas

It is surrounded on all sides by small villages as Androssa, Shar-e-Shali,Wuyan,Bathen,Nagandar,Satpokhran,WahabSabun etc. Androssa is a small village with population around 1000.WahabSabun is a small village named after a great Kashmiri poet WAHAB SAHAB.

Holy places

Temple at Khrew

Praying to Jawala Bhagwati

Khrew is also famous for an important temple of Kashmiri Pandits.^{[citation needed]}It is a temple which is dedicated to Jawala Bhagwati - the Goddess of fire. The temple is reached by a flight of stone steps. Mela Jawala Mukhi is held here annually on the 14th day of the bright fortnight of Savan (July–August) when pilgrims visit this shrine from all corners of the country. At bottom of the hillock is a spring where people take a dip before making the ascent.

The holy places of Muslims in Khrew are Sabir Shah, Syed Mantaqi, and Baba Qasim Sahab.

Economy

The cement factory, saffron growing by the farmers and the business of saffron, almonds and walnuts are the main economic drivers of Khrew. The Cement has generated good employment in the area but at the same time due to the air pollution caused by the dust coming out of chemney of this factory there has been considerable decline in production of wall nuts, almonds, saffron and other crops. In the month of march 2009 four more cement factories started in this area. The name of the cement indstris are as given:- J&K Cements additional line of 600TPD, TCI, Dawar, Cemtac, green valley and Itifaq. Khrew has also got Military Engineering Service base.

Telecommunications

Up to late 1990s, there was not enough means of communicatios like telephone, internet, mobile in Khrew. But, since then, much improvement has occurred in this area. Now, there is an Electronic exchange with 348 channels, BSNL,3 Airtel,Aircel,Reliance,Tata indicom, vadafone etc.mobile towers with about 3108 channels.

Education

There are 7 private English medium schools and two higher secondaries one for boys and one for girls.

Beside Govt schools, Private institutions are taking keen initiatives in the development of education. All the private institutions impart quality education to the students.

Arabic Literature darasgah namely Gousia darasgah near sabir shah chowk was started in 2000 by Sahil Sidiq and till now hundreds of students are learning islamic literature there.

There are many engineers and doctors from this area. From 2000 onwards there is major decline in these two areas of profession. Mostly the youth are preferring to work in the industries there than the education.

Health

There is one government hospital. This hospital provides basic health-care facilities to the patients.

Springs

There are more than seven springs flowing in the Khrew. The water is so crystal pure and clear even a needle can be seen from above five feet in it. You will feel cold water in summer and Luke warm in winter.

We can say the water is God's gift to Khrew but the worry is, it will not longer there because the unlimited cement factories pollution is going to make it stagnant.

Saffron

Khrew is the best producer of saffron. The costly spice of the world. According to survey by agriculture departments Khrew is the fourth cultivator of saffron in India. The estimation given by (The saffron dealer of khrew) "Khrew has a capability to grow miniumum 385KG of saffron in a year" up to 2004 we were dealing up to 248Kgs of saffron in a year but the problem occurred by these cement industries have shown great decline in this cultivation. In 2010 we have not done deal of saffron more than a 73 Kgs. Which is showing that the loss of capicity to grow in land by the chemicals and dust.