Sonwar Bagh, sometimes referred to as Sonwar, is a residential area in the

Badami Bagh Badami Bagh or Badam Bagah is a cantonment town on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Established in the 1920s as military barracks on a site containing several ancient Hindu and Budhhist ruins near Pandrethan, the Badami Ba ...

Cantonment region on the outskirts of

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

city, in the Indian

union territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

. It is gradually becoming more commercial, as many schools, hotels and restaurants have been established there. It is home to many politicians like the ex-Chief Minister,

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah (born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the chief minister of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He had previously served as the chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir between 2009 and ...

who became the 11th, and youngest, Chief Minister of the Indian Administered state Jammu and Kashmir. Sonwar Bagh was one of the worst affected areas from the

2014 India–Pakistan floods In September 2014, the Kashmir region suffered disastrous floods across many of its districts caused by torrential rainfall. The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the Pakistani territories of Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and th ...

in Jammu and Kashmir. It is surrounded by Takht-i-Sulaiman Hill on top of which is Shankaracharya Temple

Location

Sonwar Bagh lies parallel to the

Jhelum river The Jhelum River is a major river in South Asia, flowing through India and Pakistan, and is the westernmost of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian-administered territory of Jammu ...

and National Highway road near Sonwar Bazaar (market). It is about from

Lal Chowk Lal Chowk () is a city square in Srinagar, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The square was given its name by left-wing activists who were inspired by the Russian Revolution as they fought the princely stateMaharaja, Hari Si ...

, the commercial hub of the union territory of

Languages

The official language of this area is

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. English, Hindi and

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, the language of the Kashmiris ethnic group People with the nam ...

languages are also spoken.

Subdivisions

Due to its large area it is divided into the following subdivisions: * Iqbal Colony * Indira Nagar * Hamza Colony * Old Sonwar Mohalla * Palpora * Banumsora * Gupkar Road

Schools

There are more than ten schools in Sonwar Bagh, including: *

Burn Hall School Burn Hall School is an all boys missionary school in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir, India. Its motto is ''"Industria Floremus - In Toil We Flourish"''. It is one of the oldest schools in the valley. The school ...

* Woodlands House School * Saint Paul's School * Rosewood School * Government Girls Higher Secondary * Cadgy middle school

2014 Kashmir floods

Sonwar Bagh was one of many areas of Srinagar, including Shivpora, Jawahar Nagar,

Rajbagh Rajbagh is a notified area in the municipal committee of Srinagar, in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It comes under the Lal chowk constituency. Rajbagh is a posh locality in the Civil Lines area of Srinagar. The postal code of ...

, Gogji Bagh, Pandrathan, and Batwara, that was worst hit by the

2014 Kashmir floods Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

. Sonwar Bagh was completely submerged for 21 days. Many houses were destroyed and damaged, but only a few people were killed. The water started to enter Sonwar Bagh at about 4:00 am because of a breach in Jhelum River bund. In a few hours it reached a level of more than one and a half storeys.

Features

The main pincodes of this area include 190001 and 190004.

Hospitals

GP Panth Hospital, Kashmir's only children's hospital, is situated in Sonwar Bagh.

Hotels

There are many hotels in Sonwar Bagh. The most famous of them are: * Hotel Four Points * Hotel International * Hotel Akbar Residency

Cinemas

* INOX multiplex at Shivpora in Sonwar near

Cantonment is situated. Earlier Broadway Cinema was situated at the same site.

Restaurants and cafes

* Krishna Dhaba * Cafe Coffee Day * Seasons Restaurant * Bites * Go Chatzz

References

{{Jammu and Kashmir Neighbourhoods in Srinagar