Machil
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (Retd.) |
Machil (माछिल) is a village in Kupwara tahsil in Kupwara district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Variants
Location
Machil - The Machil valley is to the east of Kupwara. Machil is 52 km away from the main town of Kupwara. To reach there we have to cross the Noonwani Gully which is motorable in summer, but cut off in winter. There are rest-house facilities for the visitors.[1]
The famous river Kishan Ganga separates Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir in Machil. The valley can be accessed crossing the Nonawani Pass in summer. Batanar Gully connects the valley with Kupwara.[2]
Machil is a Village in Kalarooch Block in Kupwara District of Jammu & Kashmir State, India. It is located 6 KM towards East from District head quarters Kupwara, 81 KM from State capital Srinagar, Jammu.[3]
History
Machil is the most beautiful and plain meadow, located in the mountain of Nuwan. Machil is an administrative Tehsil of the Kupwara District in Jammu and Kashmir , India. Machil has 15 villages and is 52 km away from the main town of Kupwara. It is a small beautiful valley with green meadows and mountains. It is a very important area for India for its geo-statergic interests Geography. Machil lies in the most northwestern part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
On a 52 kilometres -long difficult mountain range pass to the northeast of Kupwara at a height of about 10, 000 feet is situated between Kalaroos and Machil and Provides a pass called Zamindar Khan Gali (Z-Gali) for going across the two. After crossing the Z- Gali there lies the small valley of Machil situated at the foot hills of the Ring Balla and Batanar mountains. Before the partition this valley comprised the valleys of Dudi and Machil . Its border reached ahead of Ring Payeen to the west up to Ring Balla.
Machil is now a Tehsil of Kupwara but is cut off for six months out of every year from the rest of the state due to avalanches at the Zimindar Khan Gali. The population of this tehsil is above 2000. Most of the governmental offices and main market of the tehsil are at Dudi village. It has only one government higher secondary schools and only one Primary Health Centre and a Jamia Masjid in Dudi Machil .
The main language spoken in this tehsil is Kashmiri which is followed by Gujari and Pahari. About 70% of the population speaks the Kashmiri language . The population of this Tehsil is Muslim.The main crops grown in this area are Patato and Maize .Patato is the main crop and is sown over 70% of area,followed by Maize .The main staple food of people is rice.
Jat History
Bajrang Lal Dukiya (Subedar) (20.06.1976-26.05.2022) became martyr of militancy on 26.05.2022 during patrolling duty on LOC in Kashmir at Machil sector in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. He was from village Phirod, tahsil Nagaur in Nagaur district of Rajasthan. Unit: 15 Jat Regiment
Rameshwar Lal Paraswal (Naik) (15.10.1990- 13.01.2020) is a martyr of Militancy at Machil area in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier he had served at Doklam area also which was a point of dispute between India aand China. He was in 45 (Jat) Rashtriya Rifles/ 98 FD Regiment of the Indian Army. He was resident of village Sindhupura, tah Nawa, district Nagaur, Rajasthan.