Barura Upazila

Barura Upazila (comilla district) area 241.69 sq km, located in between 23'14' and 23'37' north latitudes and in between 90'56' and 91'08' east longitudes. It is bounded by comilla adarsha sadar and chandina upazilas on the north, laksham and shahrasti upazilas on the south, comilla sadar dakshin and Laksam upazilas on the east, Chandina and kachua (chandpur) upazilas on the west. Some part of Lalmai hills are at the east corner of this upazila.

Population Total 405118; male 190309, female 214809; Muslim 376755, Hindu 27977, Buddhist 379, Christian 4 and others 3.

Water bodies Carzon Khal (canal) is notable.

Administration Barura Thana was formed in 1948 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983. It was turned into a municipality in 1995.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	14	213	314	49126	355992	1676	52.8	52.0

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
23.13	9	26	49126	2124	52.8

Union
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Aganagar 18	4104	11378	13023	48.4
Adda 11	4148	11914	14332	58.3
Adra 12	3901	11571	13450	57.1
Uttar Khosbas 63	3141	15509	17072	49.0
Dakshin Khosbas 69	3499	10903	12209	48.6
Galimpur 44	8464	22075	25111	54.4
Chitadda 50	3657	8857	10233	43.5
Jalam 56	3316	12204	14350	50.2
Deora 37	2125	6084	6585	50.2
Uttar Payalgachha 75	4102	11509	13096	57.3
Bhabanipur 25	3406	11610	12929	51.1
Lakshmipur 82	3320	10238	12020	54.3
Uttar Shilmuri 88	2605	9349	10501	51.7
Dakshin Shilmuri 94	4221	12790	15090	49.3

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Mosque and Mazar at Adinamura, Chandimata Mandir (located on the hill top of Lalmai Hill), Moir Dighi at village Bashpur.

War of Liberation On 2 September 1971 the Pak army attacked the camp of the freedom fighters of the upazila. On the same day the Pak army entered into the village and killed 6 innocent persons; they also conducted plundering and set many houses on fire. 5 freedom fighters were killed in an encounter with the Pak army on 10 September at Payalgachha Bat-tali. The freedom fighters also had encounters with Pak army at Galimpur union, Narayanpur and other places of the upazila; 10 – 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed in these encounters, 28 razakars were wounded and 5 freedom fighters were martyred. One mass grave has been discovered at Narayanpur near Bat-tali.

For details: see বরুড়া উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৬।

Religious institutions Mosque 512, temple 100, church 1. Noted religious institutions: Barura Jami Mosque, Galimpur Jami Mosque, Adinamura Mosque, Abdul Hamid Shah (R) Tomb at Maheshpur, Barura Central Eidgah, Chandimatas' Mandir.'

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 52.1%; Male 51.1%, female 52.9%. Educational institutions: college 7, technical college 1, secondary school 36, primary school 249, madrasa 29. Noted educational institutions: Payalgachha Post-Graduate College, Barura Shahid Smriti Govt. College (1972), Galimpur TC High School (1914), Joynagar Scheduled Cast High School (1917), Bataichhari High School (1929), Talagram TC Laha Multilateral High School (1931), Barura Hazi Nawab Ali Pilot High School (1967), Panchthubi Ahmadia Fazil Madrasa (1860), Bataichhari Dakhil Madrasa (1911), Khalarpar Wajedia Fazil Madrasa (1967), Rajamara Sunnia Madrasa (1921), Baruar Alia Madrasa.

Newspapers and periodicals Weekly: Telephone, Barura kantha; defunct: Abahan.

Cultural organisations Club 31, library 3, theatre group 1, community centre 2.

Main sources of income Agriculture 55.08%, non-agricultural labourer 2.86%, commerce 11.21%, transport and communication 3.78%, service 8.90%, construction 1.39%, religious service' 0.40%, rent and remittance 7.17% and others 9.21%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 66.44%, landless 33.56%; agricultural landowner: urban' 61.62% and rural 67.07%.

Main crops Paddy, potato, wheat, mustard, sesame, betel leaf, jute, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Kaun, linseed.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, coconut, plum, watermelon, palm.

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

Communication facilities Pucca road 249 km, semi-pucca 12 km, mud road 540 km; railways 0.04 km; helipad 1; bridge and culvert 850.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, bullock cart.

Manufactories Rice mill, flour mill, ice factory, brick-field, welding factory.

Cottage industries Weaving, jute industries, silk industries, wood work, bamboo work, cane work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 42, fairs 7, most noted of which are Barura, Rammohan, Jhalam, Fakir, Khosbas, Maheshpur, Adra, Haripur, Chandimura, Amratali, Payalgachha, Aganagar hats and Chandimura, Shahapur, Lakshmipur, Rammohan melas.

Main exports Betel leaf, paddy, vegetables.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 61.5% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 95.1%, tap 0.9% and others 4.0%. The presence of arsenic has been detected in shallow tube well of this upazila.

Sanitation 85.9% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 11.6% of dwelling houses use non-sanitary latrines; 2.5% of households do not have latrines facilities.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, family welfare centre 15, satellite clinic 5, satellite family planning centre 5, community clinic 19, charitable hospital 5, clinic 1.

Natural disasters The tidal bore and cyclone of 1974 caused loss of life and damage to settlements, livestock and properties. Besides, the floods of 1998 and 2004 caused heavy damage to livestock and properties.

NGO activities brac, asa, proshika, Rural Development Organisation, CARE. [AKM Jasim Uddin]

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