Sundarganj Upazila

Sundarganj Upazila (gaibandha district) area 369.85 sq km, located in between 25°24' and 25°39' north latitudes and in between 89°24' and 89°43' east longitudes. It is bounded by pirgachha, ulipur and chilmari upazilas on the north, gaibandha sadar and sadullapur upazilas on the south, Chilmari and char rajibpur upazilas on the east, Pirgachha, mithapukur and Sadullapur upazilas on the west.

Population Total 461920; male 226118, female 235802; Muslim 423710, Hindu 37935, Buddhist 1, Christian 38 and others 236.

Water bodies Main rivers: tista, brahmaputra, ghaghat.

Administration Sundarganj Thana was formed in 1875 and it was turned into an upazila in 1984.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	15	109	189	20786	441134	1249	39.71 (2001)	30.4 (2001)

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
-	9	17	17168	-	-

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
25.96 (2001)	1	3618	1261 (2001)	39.71 (2001)

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%) (2001)
		Male	Female
Kanchibari 50	5121	17273	18434	32.76
Kapasia 56	7135	7050	6961	21.49
Chandipur 18	4350	16052	16074	30.97
Chhaparhati 25	6593	17455	18583	27.50
Tarapur 94	6948	14703	15107	33.86
Dahabanda 31	3791	11582	11861	39.62
Dhopadanga 37	7194	11842	13078	34.66
Bamandanga 11	8152	19815	21167	35.71
Belka 12	5200	13360	13705	24.27
Ramjiban 63	5508	13717	14461	25.61
Shantiram 69	5074	15899	16694	33.20
Sreepur 88	7442	19456	20901	27.15
Sarbananda 75	6258	16194	16816	28.71
Sonaroy 82	4801	12324	12342	34.86
Haripur 44	6219	10837	11009	21.59

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Remnants of Bamandanga Zamindar Bari, Bhalua Bari Jami Mosque at Dharmapur,' Bamandanga Shiva Mandir, Kurar Math at Ramjiban.

War of Liberation In 1971 the Pak army conducted mass killing, torture, rape and plundering in the upazila. During the war of liberation the Pak army tortured about 18 innocent persons to death at different places of the upazila. In the night of Shab-e-Barat in 1971, an encounter was held between the freedom fighters and the Pak army at Mater Hat. In the early morning next day the freedom fighters destroyed the Mater Hat Bridge causing dislocation with the Zila Sadar. There is a mass grave and a mass killing site in the upazila, one shaheed miner was built.

For details: See সুন্দরগঞ্জ উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ১০।

Religious institutions Mosque 490, temple 69, sacred place 1. Noted religious institutions: Dhakuabari Jami Mosque at Dharmapur.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 40.6%; male 44.3%, female 37.1%. Educational institutions: college 15, technical college 7, secondary school 52, primary school 220, kindergarten 8, community school 6, NGO operated school 218, madrasa 116. Noted educational institutions: Haripur Government Primary School (1880), Khamar Moniram Government Primary School (1910), Haripur BSM Girls' School (1914), Belka MC High School (1920), Bamandanga MN High School (1917), Kathgara Bilateral High School (1927), Shivram Adarsha Government Primary School.

Newspapers and periodicals Defunct: Sundarganj Barta, Spandan.

Cultural organisations Library 5, club 35, cinema hall 4, theatre group 14.

Main sources of income Agriculture 75.23%, non-agricultural labourer 2.35%, industry 0.38%, commerce 8.77%, transport and communication 1.92%, service 3.87%, construction 0.56%, religious service 0.17%, rent and remittance 0.14% and others 6.22%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 56.83%, landless 43.17%; agricultural landowner: urban 55.21% and rural 56.97%.'

Main crops Paddy, jute, wheat, onion, garlic, tobacco, sugarcane, mustard, maize.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Aus paddy, sweet potato, kaun.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 175, dairy 7, poultry 25, hatchery 2.

Communication facilities Pucca road 108 km, semi-pucca road 1.00 km, mud road 577 km; railway 19 km; waterway 11 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, horse carriage, bullock cart.

Noted manufactories Ice factory, welding factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, blacksmith, potteries, bamboo work, wood work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 55, fairs 7, most noted of which are Mirganj Hat, Panchpir Hat, Shobhaganj Hat, Kathgara Hat, Belka Hat, Sundarganj Bazar, Bamandanga Bazar, Gazir Mela, Charaker Mela, Shobhaganj Mela and Shiva Mela.

Main exports Jute, onion, garlic.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 22.1% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 94.0%, tap 0.1% and others 5.9%.

Sanitation 27.5% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 45.6% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 26.9% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, satellite clinic 7, family planning centre 8, community clinic 26, diagnostic centre 3.

Natural disasters The cyclone and the hailstorm of 29 April 2002 caused heavy damages to crops of most of the unions of the upazila. Besides, 23 persons were victims of the tornado of 20 March 2005; it also caused heavy damages to properties of the upazila.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, proshika, asa, CARE, Swanirvar Bangladesh. [Md. Motahar Hussain Basunia]

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