My Hometown: the Charm and Cultural Richness of Haripur, Pakistan
The name of my city is Haripur. This is located in KPK. Haripur is the main city of district Haripur, KPK. The distance of Haripur from Peshawar (the capital of KPK) is 158km and its distance from Islamabad is 94 km. The other cities closer to this are Abbottabad, Taxila and Swabi. It is a hilly plain area at an altitude of 520m. Haripur has 45 union councils.
Haripur was founded by 'Hari Singh Nalwa' in 1822 and it became the headquarters of Hazara in the year of 1853. The Hari Singh was appointed as a second Nazim of Haripur by “Maharaja Ranjit Singh' when first Nazim was assassinated by local people at 'Samundar Katha' Abbottabad. Haripur was built as the fortress with the thick and high walls and it had four main gates at that time. That fort later became the city police station and government offices were built there. Nowadays there is a chowk in the city of Haripur that is named after one of the fort gates and is known as 'Sher-a-Wala Gate'.
Haripur had the tehsil status in Abbottabad district before it became district itself in the year of 1991. The population of my city is round about 9 lac and the majority of these have age between 23-50 years. Although it is not as big city as that of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad but this city is vast enough. Its area is 1725 sq.km.
The city of Haripur lies on the Karakorum highway. Languages that are spoken by the people are mostly Hindko, Urdu and Pashto. English is usually not common among the people but it is used as a medium in offices and educational institutes. People belonging to different casts live here. Syed, Utmanzai, Jadoon, Abbasi, Awan, Malik, Mughal and numbers of other casts. Among these Awans are the dominant one in both the urban and rural areas of the city.
Haripur is famous for its two dams; Tarbela dam in ghazi and Khanpur dam . Tarbela dam used to produce a large amount of electricity while the Khanpur dam is the picnic point. There is an island named 'Mobali' near Khanpur dam and it is famous for its beauty. Families as well as university students time to time arrange their trips to enjoy the beauty of 'Mobali Island'. Different rides are also present there like 'zip line' and 'parasailing'. 'Loquat' and 'oranges' of Haripur are famous all over the country.
My city has many beautiful locations like Beer, Sirikot, Nara and Thipra. This area is rich in natural resources. Villages are full of greenery. Mustard flower in the field increases natural beauty. In the spring season flowers are in full bloom and the scene of villages is simply amazing at that time. Not only its countryside is beautiful, but the urban area is also its own example. At the time of Eid Milad-un-Nabi (S.A.W) whole city is decorated with lights. There are parks for kids to play with amazing rides and grounds for different types of sports. Matches get held between teams of different sports clubs.
The climate of Haripur is characterized by relatively high temperature. the Average temperature is 20-35C. the highest temperature is in the month of June i.e.39C and the lowest temperature is 3C in the month of January. Monsoon season begins either in the month of June or July. After it rains the city looks more beautiful and everything becomes very attractive.
My city is also at the front in the race of education. There are lots of primary, middle and high secondary government and private institutes. There are also post-graduate colleges that offer different programs. The University of Haripur (UOH) is present in the epicenter of the city. In the educational development recently a new university named PAF-IAST (Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Applied Science and Technology) is opened with the collaboration of Australia. The request for Medical college is also approved that may be established after some time. There is also a campus of Allama Iqbal Open University. This is also a great honour for the Haripur that its 5 daughters(all are sisters) have made a record by passing the competitive exam. The two noticeable personalities Field Marshal Ayub Khan military director and president of Pakistan and Air Marshal Anwar Shamim belongs from the Haripur. These personalities are the pride of my city.
My city is one of the developed cities and it has all necessities of life. There are Shopping malls, Marts, Grocery markets, Boutiques etc. Despite the private hospitals, there is a DHQ Hospital and one Trauma center that deals with accidental cases. All the hospitals are provided with qualified and experienced doctors to serve the people. Mostly all the hospitals of city provide 24/7 service to deals with any accident. One of the world largest paved road Karakorum highway passed from the main Haripur city. There are four major colonies in Haripur named TIP, KTS, Model town and Model city. The sewage system in these colonies is excellent and underground. TIP (Telephone Industry of Pakistan) is present in Haripur and it had made telephones, mobile phones and many other things in its golden period. Its products are known all over Pakistan. NRTC, a World-Class telecommunication and electronic equipment manufacturing industry. There are different industries in the Hattar area thus it plays an important role at the country level in economic development.
As nothing is flawless, there are some dark aspects of my city also. The people are much conservative and there is much pollution and sewage problem in the main city. As everything has good and bad aspects the same is with my city, but I born here and brought up here so I owe this city. I have affection for it and I am physically and emotionally attached with it. I love my city profoundly.
