Little known Barot in Himachal

     
By: Rakesh Kumar

Barot , a beautiful tourist spot in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district lies in the Chauhar valley , despite its many attractions it is still relatively unknown to many tourists .

It is blessed with thick deodar forest , two beautiful rivers and extreme natural beauty . The rivers are full of trout fish .

There is a government trout breeding center here along with other private centres from where fish are released into the Uhl river and there is a 30 km section of the river which is excellent for angling.

There is two big reservoirs made for the Shanan power house This project dates back to 1924 made by English engineer Col. Betty .

In Barot you can see lot of old machinery like old cranes and haulage trolley in which some are the originals installed in 1924 .

It is excellent place for trekking, angling , for picnic and other outdoor activities. Trekking passes are from Bir (famous paragliding site) to Barot and from Barot to Kullu (mainly through Bhubhu pass).

It is a pity that such a beautiful place is still not very well known and tourist arrivals are low due to lack of infrastructure. The road connecting Barot is in poor condition .

The road was made in 1975 and still remains single lane . The condition is so bad that little rain and snow closes the road.

Other problem is that there is very little publicity of this place by the state’s tourism department. Little information is provided on their official website .

On one hand the government wants to increase tourism in Himachal and on the other side they are not paying attention to such places which have great potential for tourism.

     

11 Responses to Little known Barot in Himachal

  1.  Devinder K. Sharma   February 13, 2012 at 8:23 pm

    A good photo essay. One wishes the facts could have been more accurate. The Shanan hydroelectric project was not commissioned in 1924 but in 1932. It was officially opened by the Viceroy of India at the Shalimar receiving station in Lahore on the 10th March, 1933. It is true that there has not been a serious attempt to utilise the enormous tourism potential of the valley for local development. Tourism is an industry best left to private initiative because the government ends up messing it up generally. The government could become facilitator in promoting tourism at the local level by helping local people through a whole host of schemes and making the access easy than what is it today.

    Reply
    1.  Rakesh Kumar   February 13, 2012 at 8:57 pm

      Thank you Devinder K. Sharma for commenting. you are right that if Govt. does nothing than we own have to take initiatives to increase tourism in such places which are less known. About the project date what the locals and staff at P.S.E.B. office Barot that the project is completed in 1932 , but started on about 1924-25 and haulage trolly lines set up that time .

      Reply
      1.  Rakesh kumar   March 1, 2012 at 7:47 am

        Video about haulage trolley and Jogindernagar added . You can view it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDiCj8UvUWo

        Reply
  2.  Ashok Chauhan   February 13, 2012 at 10:03 pm

    Its seems wonderful place–pictures look awsome. Please promote this village for tourism.

    Reply
  3.  Rocky   February 14, 2012 at 7:52 am

    Very nice photographs . Thanks to hill post as I came to know about this place due to hill post. I shall visit this place surely .

    Reply
  4.  shashi   February 14, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    Kindly add How to reach there in the article .Thanks hill post.in for your efforts

    Reply
    1.  Rakesh Kumar   February 15, 2012 at 1:54 pm

      By road, route from Delhi will be Delhi – Chandigarh – Mandi – Ghatasani – Barot (About 500 km)
      From Pathankot, the route will be Pathankot – Palampur – Jogindernagar -Ghatasani – Barot (about 207 km)
      By Train, Delhi – Pathankot and the narrow gauge track from Pathankot – Jogindernagar then by road to Barot
      By air : Barot is 127 km from Bhuntar airport near Kullu. You can also reach Barot from Gaggal airport near Kangra, approximate distance is 97 km

      Barot is about 66km from Mandi and 40 km from Jogindernagar.
      Ghatasani is place where road to Barot branches off from NH.
      Public transport buses available from Mandi and Jogindernagar.

      Reply
  5.  Vinod Kumar Rathore   February 20, 2012 at 10:07 pm

    Beautiful scenic Photographs,a great effort of Hill Post Post to bring such a nice,calm and peaceful place to the minds of people from all walks of life.
    Thanks HILL POST.

    Reply
  6.  Sahil Dogra   February 26, 2012 at 12:16 am

    The road was made in 1975 and still remains single lane . The condition is so bad that little rain and snow closes the road.
    In Barot you can see lot of old machinery like old cranes and haulage trolley in which some are the originals installed in 1924 .
    ????????????????????????????
    how these all larse machines reached there????????????

    Reply
    1.  Rakesh kumar   February 27, 2012 at 9:10 pm

      All construction material for project taken with help of Haulage trolly which goes from Joginder Nagar to Barot through hills .Its capacity is about 17 tons. Very less people are aware about the fact that this haulage trolly is only one of its kind in world.

      Reply
      1.  Sahil Dogra   February 28, 2012 at 1:26 am

        I have seen this trolly and went to barot also doing trekking started from 2-3 km.far from joginder-nagar. But i was not knowing the history of barot. I m from baijnath. But anyways its a very beautiful tourism place and himachal govt.should do smthng…politicians only visit this at election time…But Mr. Gulab Singh Thakur should do smthng for ths tourism place.

        Reply

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