# Qazigund

Qazigund (Urdu pronunciation:, Kashmiri pronunciation:), also known as Gateway Of Kashmir, is a town and in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Qazigund is located at 33°35′N 75°10′E﻿ / ﻿33.59°N 75.16°E﻿ / 33.59; 75.16. It has an average elevation of 1670 m (5478 feet) above mean sea level.
Due to its geographically ambiguous location, Qazigund is associated with both Anantnag and Kulgam districts. However, administratively, it falls under Anantnag district.
Qazigund Bypass passes through Dalwatch, Chimulla & Shampora villages of Qazigund.

## Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Qazigund had a population of 9871. Males constitute 55% of the population and females 45%. Qazigund has an average literacy rate of 70.21%, higher than the national average of 67.16%, male literacy is 79.82%, and female literacy is 58.27%. In Qazigund, 20.67% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Qazigund Byepass Is Via Dalwatch, Chimulla & Shampora Villages. Qazigund is surrounded by springs, known as nags in the local language. Verinag source of river Jhelum is only 10 km from Qazigund.
There are some Sufi shrines in and around Qazigund. Shrine of Syed Shamas din Simnani located in Dalwatch Qazigund.
Shrine of Baba Sa'd Shah sahab is located in shampora, Qazigund. Shrine of Baba Habib Shah Sahab and Baba Mueen Shah sahab is located in kurigram which is half kilometres from Qazigund main town, although there was not any shrine built on blessed grave of Baba Moeen Shah sahab due to spiritual restrictions put by him as per local narrations but on 23 March 2021 Maulana Peer Hafiz Syed Zahid Hussain Sahab laid foundation around the blessed grave of Baba Moeen shah Sahab. Khanqah of Baba Naseeb-ud-Din Ghazi is located at Chowgam at a distance of 5 kilometres. Khanqah of Hazrat Shahi Hamadan Ameer Kabeer Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) is located at Dooru Shahabad at a distance of 8 kilometres from Qazigund. Shrine of Hazrat Syed Noor Shah wali Baghdadi (RA) is located at Kund approximately at a distance of 12 kilometres. Shrine of Syed Asim and Syed Qasim Bukhari is located at Churat which is 5 km from Qazigund Town. Shrine of Syed Hafeezullah Andrabi Qadri Naqshbandi (RA) is located in Qazigund town just a hundred metres away from main bus stand Qazigund inside the premises of Gousia Arabic college Qazigund.

## Climate

Climate data for Qazigund (1991–2020, extremes 1962–2020) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.2 (61.2) | 20.7 (69.3) | 26.5 (79.7) | 31.4 (88.5) | 33.6 (92.5) | 35.7 (96.3) | 34.5 (94.1) | 35.0 (95.0) | 32.8 (91.0) | 32.2 (90.0) | 24.3 (75.7) | 18.9 (66.0) | 35.7 (96.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.6 (43.9) | 9.7 (49.5) | 14.8 (58.6) | 20.0 (68.0) | 23.8 (74.8) | 27.0 (80.6) | 28.0 (82.4) | 27.7 (81.9) | 26.1 (79.0) | 21.9 (71.4) | 15.7 (60.3) | 10.0 (50.0) | 19.2 (66.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −3.1 (26.4) | −0.4 (31.3) | 3.0 (37.4) | 6.5 (43.7) | 9.6 (49.3) | 13.5 (56.3) | 16.8 (62.2) | 16.0 (60.8) | 11.2 (52.2) | 5.2 (41.4) | 1.0 (33.8) | −1.8 (28.8) | 6.4 (43.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −15.7 (3.7) | −16.7 (1.9) | −7.5 (18.5) | −1.5 (29.3) | −0.2 (31.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 9.4 (48.9) | 8.4 (47.1) | 4.0 (39.2) | −1.2 (29.8) | −8.2 (17.2) | −14.4 (6.1) | −16.7 (1.9) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 150.9 (5.94) | 166.5 (6.56) | 173.9 (6.85) | 117.0 (4.61) | 92.1 (3.63) | 79.6 (3.13) | 105.8 (4.17) | 100.7 (3.96) | 66.0 (2.60) | 29.5 (1.16) | 48.3 (1.90) | 70.2 (2.76) | 1,200.5 (47.26) |
| Average rainy days | 7.7 | 8.2 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 5.8 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 72.2 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 70 | 63 | 55 | 54 | 55 | 54 | 63 | 66 | 60 | 54 | 58 | 66 | 60 |
| Source: India Meteorological Department ||||||||||||||

## Transport

Qazigund is connected to Anantnag and Srinagar by road and railway. There is a train service from Qazigund to Srinagar ten times a day, and is connected to Kulgam by road. Qazigund is connected to Jammu and rest of India through NH 44 (former name NH 1A before renumbering of all national highways) that passes through Qazigund Tunnel of Pir Panjal mountain. New NH444 connects Qazigund to Srinagar via Shupiyan.

## Qazigund railway tunnel

Qazigund railway tunnel or Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, is 11 km long railway tunnel under the Pir Panjal mountains to connect Qazigund railway station to Banihal railway station. It was bored in late 2011, became operational by 26 December 2012 and was commissioned in June 2013. It is India's longest and Asia's third longest railway tunnel and reduced the distance between Qazigund and Banihal to only 11 km.