Jagannathpur Upazila

Jagannathpur Upazila (sunamganj district) area 368.11 sq km, located in between 24°31' and 24°40' north latitudes and in between 91°27' and 91°41' east longitudes. It is bounded by chhatak and sunamganj sadar upazilas on the north, nabiganj upazila on the south, bishwanath and balaganj upazilas on the east, derai upazila on the west.

Population Total 259490; male 129964, female 129526; Muslim 233863, Hindu 25566, Buddhist 6, Christian 12 and others 43.

Water bodies Main rivers: kushiyara and Dahuka. Haors 25, Beels 98; Gaziala Group Haor, Pinglar Haor, Nalua Haor and Paruar Haor; Jamaikata Beel, Borat Beel, Feora Beel and Kumaria Beel are notable.

Administration Jagannathpur Thana was formed in 1922 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983. Municipality was established in 1999.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	8	234	310	40699	218791	705	43.9	39.1

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
28.64	9	43	40699	1421	43.9

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Asharkandi 17	12068	13920	13820	40.0
Kalkalia 38	13447	15837	16116	34.1
Pailgaon 57	10346	14894	15223	34.2
Patali 66	8034	10843	10540	42.5
Mirpur 47	7142	10809	10555	49.4
Raniganj 76	12194	17773	18522	36.9
Syedpur 85	5487	12075	11807	45.5
Haldipur 19	15168	12887	13170	35.5

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011,Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Mazar of Hazrat Shah Kama (R). Memorial of Radha Raman (Keshabpur), Bishnu Temple (Pailgaon) and House of Gobinda Roy (Haripur).

War of Liberation During the war of liberation the local Razakars arranged a so-called peace meeting at Sreerampur High School compound and local teachers, officials, Union Parishad members, members of the elite and a cross section of people gathered at the places on the 31 August 1971. With the help of the Razakars the Pakistani army brutally killed 126 persons by firing on the meeting and the entire village was set on fire. On 8 September the Pak Army killed 30 innocent civilians and sacked about 150 shops at Raniganj Bazar. There is a mass killing site in the upazila and a mass grave at Sreerampur.

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

Religious institutions Mosque 360, temple 21, tomb 7. Noted religious institutions: Ikarsai Jami Mosque, Basudev Mandir are notable.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 39.9%; male 41.6%, female 38.2%. Noted educational institutions: Jagannathpur college, Jagannathpur Swarup Chandra Government High School (1926), Pailgaon BN High School (1919), Mirpur Public Multilateral High School (1931), Syedpur Pilot High School (1963), Nayabandar Bilateral High School (1975), Ishaquepur Public High School (1982), Syedpur Saiadia Shamchhia Senior Madrasa (1903) and Asharkandhi Zakir Muhammad Primary School (previously Madhyabanga Bidyalaya, 1887).

Newspapers and periodicals Weekly: Jagannathpur Kantha; fortnightly: Jagannathpur, Jagannathpur Darpan; monthly: Jagannathpur Kantha, Jagannathpur Times, Jagannathpur; Irregular: Methopath, Kathokatha,' Jagannathpur Barta, Ishaquepur Barta.

Cultural organisations Club 20, library 11, theatre stage 1, theatre group 1, women organisation 30, art school 1, music school 1, literary organisation 2.

Main sources of income Agriculture 57.11%, non-agricultural labourer 6.87%, industry 0.42%, commerce 9.42%, transport and communication 0.96%, service 3.79%, construction 0.88%, religious service 0.34%, rent and remittance 9.70% and others 10.51%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 38.44%, landless 61.56%; agricultural landowner: urban 31.51% and rural 39.62%.

Main crops Paddy.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Aman paddy.

Main fruits Mango, blackberry, jackfruit, banana, betel nut.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries This upazila has a number of fisheries, dairies, poultries and hatcheries.

Communication facilities Pucca road 121 km, semi-pucca road 87 km, mud road 218 km; waterway 20 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, horse carriage.

Noted manufactories Flour mill, ice factory and rice mill.

Cottage industries Bamboo and cane work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 31, fairs 3, most noted of which are Jagannathpur, Raniganj, Nayabandar, Syedpur and Kasabpur bazars and Basudev Bari Mela.

Main exports Fish.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 40.7% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 87.8%, tap 0.7% and others 11.5%.

Sanitation 52.1% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 40.8% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 7.1% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Upazila health centre 1, family planning centre 3, union health and family planning centre 5, TB clinic (operated by brac) 1, leprosy treatment centre (operated by HEED Bangladesh) 1, clinic (Pathology) 2.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, Swanirvar Bangladesh. [Jiban Kumar Chanda]

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