Aharbal Mela
A unique Aharbal Mela promoting rural art and craft was started in Kulgam district of Jammu & Kashmir. The purpose of the mela was to portray the potential of district Kulgam. Dr. Bilal Mohiud Din Bhat, DC Kulgam said, this programme is an initiative by the Rural Development. A male tourist, Mohan Lal visited Aharbal Mela for the first time. He found the ambience of Aharbal beautiful. He noticed a number of people visiting the mela during the weekend. That was perhaps because they were getting good entertainment, said the tourist. A local Gulam Moinuddin says, it is a good initiative from the government to promote tourism in the valley, especially in Aharbal and other places nearby. A female tourist Preeti found a lot of beauty in the place and described it as ‘heaven on earth’. She was fascinated by the waterfall, she had not seen anything like it before. Aharbal Waterfall is popularly called the ‘Niagara of Kashmir’. It is located at an altitude of 2266m above sea level. Aharbal is located about 70km from Srinagar. The waterfall is formed by the Veshaw River, a tributary of River Jhelum that falls down 25m coursing through rocky granite boulders. The gushing waterfall and the scenic vista attracts the locals. It is relatively unexplored by the tourists.
A local tourist Sivram Khatana appreciated the efforts of DC Kulgam and said under the LG of J&K, Shri Manoj Sinha, lot of good work is happening, especially in the matters of development of roads and tourism.