Kahuta

The name "kahuta" was originated from the name of tree, extensively founded there. The local name of the tree is "koh".

The Punjab region became predominantly Muslim due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape of Punjab region. The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. Following the success of the Pakistan Movement which lead to the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Muslim refugees settled in the area. Kahuta was a small incorporated city until the 1970s when KRL was constructed by the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers under Engineering officer Major-General Zahid Ali Akbar, Director of Project-706.[1] During the 1960s and 1970s, Kahuta was inhabited by retired officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces.[2]

In the 1970s, the Ministry of Defence was tasked by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to search for a remote location for carrying out atomic and weapon-testing experiments for the integrated atomic bomb project in 1976.[1][3] [2] The Uranium Coordination Board (UCB) headed by Ghulam Ishaq Khan financed the reconstruction of the site.[1] Major-General Zahid Ali Akbar and later completed the drawings, surveying and measured the area aerially.[1] Within the week, the whole site was acquired by the Ministry of Defence, and the army truckloads, heavy engineering vehicles arrived the next day to re-built the site.[4] All incoming materials and research equipment were labeled as common items and engineering tools to conceal the true nature of their purpose.[1] Scientists and engineers working and living in Kahuta were censored by the senior military officials.[4] Soon, the site was classified and abandoned for public with only few allowed to resides.[4] The Engineering Research Laboratories (now KRL) was established by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as a research government national facility under the Ministry of Defence.

Kahuta is situated in the Himalayan foothills in Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province, approximately 30 km southeast of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. There are many picnic spots like Narar (Narh), Azad Pattan, Tlaitar and Beyore Salitha kotli sattian. The area is noted for its wildlife and hunting. Punjabi language ( with Pahari-Potwari dialect) is spoken in this region.