Kahuta

Kahuta is a census-designated city and tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab Province, Pakistan. The population of the Kahuta Tehsil is approximately 160,000 at the 2008 census. Kahuta is the home to the Kahuta Research Laboratories which was founded to undertake the Kahuta Project as part of the atomic bomb project. Before the Kahuta Project, the site was occupied by retired officers of Pakistan Armed Forces and contained a small public community, including a private high school. The name "kahuta" was originated from the name of tree, extensively founded there. The local name of the tree is "koh".HistoryThe 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. After 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. During the 1960s and 1970s, Kahuta was inhabited by retired officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces.