Page 27 - Kashmir and National Education Policy by Dr. Amarpreet Kour

Methodology Of This Study

The River Jhelum, originating from the Verinag spring in the Anantnag
district, flows through the valley (Iqbal et al., 2012).
District Budgam, situated between 33° 15' and 34° 30' N latitude and 74°
and 75° 13' E longitude, covers an area of 1,291 sq. km. It is bounded on
the south by the Pir Panjal range and on the north by the main or central
Himalayan ranges. To its north lie Baramulla and Srinagar districts, while
Pulwama district is located to its south, and the Poonch border lies to the
southwest. The Pir Panjal and Karewas foothills, extending from southwest
to northeast, separate it from the Chenab Valley and the Jammu region
(Najar and Khan, 2011; Lone and Romshoo, 2011).
The climate of Budgam is temperate, with heavy snowfall during winters.
The district receives an average annual rainfall of 669.1 mm (Rashid et al.,
2011), and the mean annual temperature is 20.2°C (Najar and Khan, 2011).
The topography exhibits altitudinal extremes ranging from 1,550 to 4,700
m above mean sea level.
The region’s soils are of three types: loamy soil, karewa soil, and poorly
developed mountain soil (Raza et al., 1978). Forests cover 1,371 sq. km,
constituting 34.79% of the total geographical area of the Union Territory
(Government of India, Ministry of MSME). Common tree species include
Chinar, Poplar, Deodar, Fir, Pine, Kail, Partal, Mulberry, and Walnut
(Raina, 2002).

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