Narail Sadar Upazila

Narail Sadar Upazila (narail district) area 381.76 sq km, located in between 23°02' and 23°17' north latitudes and in between 89°23' and 89°37' east longitudes. It is bounded by lohagara and salikha upazilas on the north, kalia and abhaynagar upazilas on the south, Lohagara upazila on the east, bagherpara and jessore sadar upazilas on the west.

Population Total 269423; male 137234, female 132189; Muslim 187207, Hindu 81985, Buddhist 140, Christian 15 and others 76.

Water bodies Main rivers: nabaganga, chitra, bhairab; Gobra Canal is notable.

Administration Narail Thana was formed in 1861 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	13	180	231	46909	222514	706	62.22	53.11

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
27.72	9	24	37018	1335	64.96

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
10.35	11	9891	956	52.06

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Auria 11	8013	11630	11267	61.90
Kalora 47	6984	10342	9912	51.71
Chandibarpur 33	6195	8913	8839	54.05
Tularampur 94	8258	8897	8667	63.08
Banshgram 13	9788	8875	7578	54.98
Bichhali 27	8142	10082	9912	52.42
Bhadrabila 20	6011	9083	9062	48.80
Maij Para 54	6865	10999	10518	48.72
Mulia 61	2555	5069	4822	52.06
Sahabad 74	4647	6343	6229	60.52
Shaikhati 81	9056	11011	10498	50.10
Singasolpur 88	4698	7946	7730	48.53
Habakhali 40	5984	8769	8412	42.86

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2001, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Goal Bathan Mosque (1654).

Historical events In 1946 tebhaga movement begun in Narail under the leadership of Communist activist Nurjalal. On 26 March 1971, the youths of Narail under Professor Nur Mohammad Miah captured arms and ammunitions of Narail Armoury and carried these to Lohagara. On 2 April the freedom fighters raided the Rupganj military camp and, later on killed 60 Pak soldiers at the Narail ferry ghat while fleeing from the camp. On 3 April the Pak army launched an attack on Narail Town. A number of establishments were damaged and the Town was virtually vacated due to air attack on Narail town by the Pak army on 6 April. On 13 April the Pak army established their camp at Narail. In early May the Pak army in collaboration with the local razakars captured school teacher Sheikh Abdus Salam of Kalia Pilot High School from Ramsiddhi and killed him on 13 May in the Jessore Cantonment. On 17 July, the Pak army in collaboration with the local razakars captured 8 innocent persons from village Tularampur took them to Water Development Board camp and killed all of them. On 7 December the Pak army and razakars killed college student Mizanur Rahman. On 9 December the freedom fighters launched an attack on the Pak military camp in which another freedom fighter Motiar Rahman was killed. On 10 December the freedom fighters attacked the Pak army from all sides and liberated Narail. On 14 December Major muhammad abul manzoor, Commander of Sector 8 of the war of liberation formally hoisted the flag of the Independent Bangladesh at the Dakbangalow of Narail.'

Marks of the War of Liberation Mass grave 1.

Religious institutions Mosque 275, temple 75, church 1, tomb 2, sacred place 2. Noted religious institutions: Goal Bathan Mosque, Rupganj Jami Mosque.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 54.73%; male 59.22%, female 50.09%. Educational institutions: college 10, homeopathic medical college 1, agricultural and technical college 1, technical school and college 1, secondary school 58, primary school 163, satellite school 10, community school 6, blind school 1, madrasa 76. Noted educational institutions: Narail Government Victoria College (1886), Narail Boys' High School (1854), Narail Victoria Collegiate School (1857), Narail VC School (1857), Narail Government High School (1903), Maliat Secondary School (1906), Habakhali Hamidunnechha Secondary School (1916), Singasolpur KP Secondary School (1921), Singia-Hatbalpur Secondary School (1921), Parbati Bidyapith (1923), Banshgram Bishnupur Secondary School (1932), Maij Para Secondary School (1932), Narail Secondary Girls' School (1953), Sahabad Majidia Aliya Madrasa (1950).

Newspapers and periodicals Daily: Ocean; weekly: Prantik, Narail Barta; fortnightly: Kiran, Bhorer Alo (defunct); periodical: Bhaskar, Gramer Bani, Jagriti, Raktarin, Hathchhani, Bijoy, Sahittakali, Fera, Shekorer Sandhane.

Cultural organisations Library 5, cinema hall 1, theatre group 1, jatra party 3, literary society 1, women organisation 2.

Main sources of income Agriculture 64.97%, non-agricultural labourer 2.53%, industry 1.78%, commerce 12.09%, transport and communication 3.55%, service 8.74%, construction 1.02%, religious service 0.14%, rent and remittance 0.73% and others 4.45%.'

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 71.60%, landless 28.40%; agricultural landowner: urban 61.41% and rural 73.74%.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, jute, pulse, oil, betel leaf, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Indigo, china, kaun, mesta (jute).

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, banana, papaya, blackberry, star apple, date, guava, coconut.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 2350 (shrimp 1345, others fishes 1005), dairy 107, poultry 75, hatchery 1, nursery 16.

Communication facilities Pucca road 95 km, semi-pucca road 39 km, mud road 530 km; waterway 44.27 nautical miles.

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

Noted manufactories Textile mill, saw mill, rice mill, flour mill, ice factory, printing press, welding factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, potteries, food' industry, weaving, cane work, bamboo and wood work, tailoring.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 17, fairs 10, most noted of which are Rupganj Bazar, Gobra Bazar, Singia Bazar, Tularampur Bazar, Mirzapur Bazar, Maij Para Bazar, Nakmi Bazar, Chalitatala Bazar, Sultan Mela, Nishinathtala Mela, Rupganj Mela and Hijal Danga Mela.

Main exports Betel leaf, papaya, date molasses, coconut.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 18.99% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 95.86%, pond 0.35%, tap 1.58% and others 2.21%. The presence of arsenic has been detected in 21% shallow tube-well water of the upazila.

Sanitation 37.77% (rural 33.42% and urban 58.44%) of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 41.10% (rural 43.93% and urban 27.66%) of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 21.12% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Hospital 1, satellite clinic 3, union health and family welfare centre 9, maternity 14, clinic 32.

Natural disasters More than one hundred people were victims' of the cyclones of 1909, 1961 and 1988; besides these cyclones also caused heavy damages to settlements, livestock, plantation and other properties of the upazila. A large number of people were victims of the famines of 1770 (BS 1176), 1943, and 1950. The floods of 1988 and 1998 caused heavy damages to settlements, livestock and crops of upazila.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are CARE, brac, asa, proshika. [Enamul Kabir Tuku]

References Bangladesh Population Census 2001, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics; Cultural survey report of Narail Sadar Upazila 2007.