Batnara, Abbottabad

Batnara is a village in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at 33°58'14N 73°21'5E with an altitude of 1560 metres (5121feet).^[1] The village is part of Seer Gharbi Union Council^[2] in Abbottabad District.^[3]

The area around the village was described by British geologist Charles Stewart Middlemiss when he was doing a survey of the area as part of his geological fieldwork in Hazara for the colonial era Geological Survey of India (which was prior to the emergence of Pakistan as a separate state to India). Middlemiss noted how the Jurassic rocks near Batnara are exposed briefly, then subducted beneath younger Nummulitic layers as you travel up the valley. This reflects a structural and depositional complexity, possibly due to faulting and folding, where older rocks are juxtaposed with younger ones in a tight topographic setting.

The cul-de-sac morphology and steep ascent described by Middlemiss imply that this is a geologically constrained area — ideal for observing transitions between formations but also challenging to map due to limited exposure.^[4]

Note: in his work the spellings of the areas he surveyed differ slightly from modern day ones thus Batnara is referred to as Bhatnara, Lora as Loruh and Nagri as Nugree.

Both locals and tourists have asked that the government build an expressway linking Batnara to the town of Jhika Gali in Punjab.^[5]*

33°58′14″N 73°21′5″E / 33.97056°N 73.35139°E / 33.97056; 73.35139