Dowarabazar Upazila

Dowarabazar Upazila (sunamganj district) area 263.35 sq km, located in between 24°58' and 25°11' north latitudes and in between 91°24' and 91°43' east longitudes. It is bounded by Meghalaya state of India on the north, chhatak upazila on the south and east, sunamganj sadar upazila on the west.

Population Total 228460; male 112240, female 116220; Muslim 217755, Hindu 10354, Buddhist 11, Christian 269 and others 71.

Water bodies Main rivers: surma, Jadukata.

Administration Dowarabazar Thana was formed in 1976 and it was turned into an upazila in 1985.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
-	9	166	308	14794	213666	868	26.5	30.7

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km	Literacy rate (%)
13.26	2	14794	1116	26.5

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Dakshin Dowarabazar 27	9838	11408	11302	25.6
Duhalia 32	6539	12502	13363	26.1
Narsing Pur 92	11321	15145	15376	28.1
Pandergaon 78	7494	12583	13075	25.9
Bangla Bazar 86	7535	17606	18378	34.3
Bougla Bazar	4811	8048	8416	36.9
Mannargaon 67	8097	13623	14417	32.6
Lakshmipur 61	7564	11897	12105	31.6
Surma	7176	9428	9788	33.5

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

War of Liberation A troop formed by the Dowarabazar Action Committee had an encounter with the Pak army at Kandargaon in April 1971. Dowarabazar was under sector 5 of the War of Liberation. Freedom fighters had their position at various places on the bank of the haors (the large swamps) and carried out guerilla attacks from the hideouts. Freedom fighters had skirmishes with Pakistani soldiers at Sreepur and Tilagaon areas of Pandargaon union and at Betirgaon. A fierce battle between the freedom fighters and the Pak army took place at Dowarabazar on 13 October, in which 18 freedom fighters were killed.

For details: see দোয়ারাবাজার উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৪।

Religious institutions Mosque 295, temple 15, church 4, tomb 1.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 30.4%; male 31.8%, female 29.0%. Noted educational institutions: Barkhal Multilateral School and College (1970), Somuj Ali High School and college (1984), Dowarabazar College (1993), Tengra Secondary School (1965), Aambari High School (1967), Ghilachhara Secondary High School, Kalaura Darussunnah Fazil Madrasa (1974).

Cultural organisations Club 10, playground 2.

Main sources of income Agriculture 71.14%, non-agricultural labourer 5.85%,' industry 0.32%, commerce 8.42%, transport and communication 1%, service 2.59%, construction 0.83%, religious service 0.36%, rent and remittance 1.61% and others 7.88%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 54.72%, landless 45.28%; agricultural landowner: urban 44.07% and rural 55.48%.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, pulse, potato, ginger, cotton.

Extinct and nearly extinct crops Sesame, kaun, tobacco.

Main fruits Mango, banana, jackfruit, pineapple, lemon.

Communication facilities Pucca road 225 km, semi-pucca road 30 km, mud road 85 km; waterway 50 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, bullock cart.

Cottage industries Bamboo work, wood work and cane work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 22, fairs 4, most noted of which are Dowarabazar, Lakshmipur Bazar, Aambari Bazar, Tengra Bazar, Baliura Bazar, Bougla Bazar; Machimpur and Jalalpur fairs are notable.

Main exports Paddy, limestone, forest resources.

Access to electricity All the unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work; however, 24.1% dwelling households have access to electricity.

Natural resources Limestone and Natural gas.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 77.6%, tap 0.3% and others 22.1%. The presence of intolerable level of arsenic has been detected in 934 shallow tube well water of the upazila.

Sanitation 33.1% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 51.6% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 14.3% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, union health and family planning centre 3.

Natural disasters The hailstorm of 1991 caused huge damages to crops and plantation of the upazila. In 2005 a serious explosion occurred in the Tengratila Gas field resulting burning of gas for about a month. In this incident total damage to properties including loss of natural gas was worth Tk. 15 thousand crore.

NGO activities brac, asa, caritas. [Jayanta Singh Roy]

References Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics; Cultural survey report of Dowarabazar Upazila 2007.