Harirampur Upazila

Harirampur Upazila (manikganj district) area 244.30 sq km, located in between 23°38' and 23°48' north latitudes and in between 89°50' and 90°03' east longitudes. It is bounded by shivalaya, ghior and manikganj sadar upazilas on the north, char bhadrasan and faridpur sadar upazilas on the south, Manikganj Sadar, nawabganj (dhaka) and dohar upazilas on the east, Shibalaya, goalanda and Faridpur Sadar upazilas on the west.

Population Total 139318; male 65815, female 73503; Muslim 123194, Hindu 16105, Christian 11 and others 8.

Water bodies Main rivers: padma and ichamati; Bhatsala Beel, Gharilpur Beel and Mollabari Canal are notable.

Administration Harirampur Thana was formed in 1845 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
-	13	214	250	2244	137074	570	64.2	48.1

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
10.93	1	2244	205	64.2

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Azimnagar 11	3565	2347	2472	23.4
Kanchanpur 73	7770	2532	2739	36.4
Gala 51	4950	9739	10757	52.4
Gopinathpur 58	3975	5798	6309	48.2
Chala 36	4465	8663	9856	53.6
Dhulsunra 43	5030	2069	2564	50.0
Boyra 29	3945	4726	5566	64.1
Balara 21	2920	7335	8830	55.9
Balla 14	4300	10155	10527	48.6
Ramkrishnapur 87	8370	4396	5272	42.0
Lesraganj 80	2760	5793	6060	27.8
Sutalari 94	4090	483	518	31.2
Harukandi 65	4230	1779	2033	50.2

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2001, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Lokmania Dargah (Jhitka), Fort of musa khan (Jatrapur).

War of Liberation Encounters between the freedom fighters and the Pak army were held at Sutalari and Horina of the upazila in 1971. On 13 December Harirampur upazila was liberated.

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

Religious institutions Mosque 161, tomb 3, Dargah 3, temple 73, sacred place 2.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 48.4%; male 49.7%, female 47.2%. Educational institutions: college 3, secondary school 13, madrasa 1. Noted educational institutions: Bicharpati Nurul Islam College (1987), MA Rouf Degree College (1994), Jhitka Khawja Rahmat Ali Degree College (1994), Patgram Anath Bandhu Government High School (1915), Ibrahimpur Ishwar Chandra High School (1923), Jhitka Ananda Mohan High School (1926).

Cultural organisations Library 2, theatre group 2, cinema hall 2, club 37, women organisation 2.

Main sources of income Agriculture 54.54%, non-agricultural labourer 2.68%, industry 1.23%, commerce 13.73%, transport and communication 2.43%, service 13.18%, construction 1.80%, religious service 0.27%, rent and remittance 2.56% and others 7.58%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 49.13%, landless 50.87%; agricultural landowner: urban 42.47% and rural 49.26%.

Main crops Paddy, jute, wheat, mustard, onion, garlic, peanut.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Linseed.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, papaya.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 52, dairy 20, poultry 60.

Communication facilities Pucca road 76 km, semi-pucca road 7 km, mud road 264 km; waterway 25 km.

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

Noted manufactories Flour mill, ice factory, saw mill, Bidi factory.

Cottage industries Weaving, bamboo work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 15, fairs 10, most noted of which are Jhitka Hat, Ramkrishnapur Hat, Boalio Hat and Nayar Hat.

Main exports Onion, molasses.

Access to electricity All the unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 48.7% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 96.7%, tap 0.2% and others 3.1%. The presence of arsenic has been detected 28% in shallow tube-well water of the upazila.

Sanitation 57.8% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 39.2% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 3.0% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, union health centre 5, family planning centre 4, NGO operated health centre 1.

Natural disasters Many people of the upazila were victims of the famines of 1897, 1943 and 1974. Besides, the earth quakes of 1885 and 1897 caused heavy damages to settlements, road communications and crops of the upazila.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa, proshika. [Manoranjan Mandal]

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