Assasuni Upazila

Assasuni Upazila (satkhira district) area 402.36 sq km, located in between 22°21' and 22°40' north latitudes and in between 89°03' and 89°17' east longitudes. It is bounded by satkhira sadar and tala upazilas on the north, shyamnagar upazila on the south, paikgachha and koyra upazilas on the east and kaliganj and debhata upazilas on the west.

Population Total 249244; male 126399, female 122845; Muslim 177199, Hindu 70483, Buddhist 1298, Christian 133 and others 131. Munda, Chandal or Podh and Kaibarto tribal communities are belong to this upazila.

Water bodies Main rivers: kobadak, Betna, Kholpetua; Puinjala and Cheutia canals are notable.

Administration Assasuni Thana was formed in 1891 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
-	11	143	242	8516	240728	619	45.10	40.13

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
6.81	2	8516	1251	45.10

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Anulia 8	7054	11082	10960	32.79
Assasuni 17	8262	11516	10942	44.66
Kadakati 56	-	6605	6167	44.87
Kulla 69	7883	11277	10612	36.16
Khajra 60	9201	12584	12935	39.62
Durgapur 43	12856	8281	8401	37.37
Pratap Nagar 77	8372	12532	13400	35.17
Baradal 25	9008	13623	13298	43.46
Budhhata 34	8285	12919	11833	43.02
Sreeula 94	10297	11941	11745	40.79
Sobhnali 86	11799	14039	12552	44.96

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2001, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Dargah of Buro Pir, Budhhata Shiva Kali Mandir, three-domed jami mosque at Shreeula and Mazar of Hazrat Shah Aziz (R).

History of the War of Liberation On 14 August 1971 the freedom fighters damaged a Pakistani ship, loaded with arms and ammunitions, at Mongla port, by mine explosion. Freedom fighters Aftab and Sirajul Islam were killed and Imdadul Hoque, Mujibor Rahman, Khalil and Imam Bari were wounded on 15 August in an encounter with the rajakars at Budhhata. On 16 August three freedom fighters were killed while launching a attack on two gun boats at river Kholpetua. Freedom fighter Manaranjan was killed and a number of rajakars were killed or wounded in an encounter at village Goaldanga on 17 September 1971. Besides, many rajakars were killed or wounded in September when the freedom fighters attacked the Chapra Rajakar camp.

Marks of the War of Liberation Mass killing site 1 (Keyargati).

Religious institutions Mosque 200, tomb 4, temple 74, church 2. Noted religious institutions: Budhata Jami Mosque, Baradal Church, Shah Abdul Aziz (R) Tomb.'

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 40.30%; male 47.97%, female 32.51%. Educational institutions: college 2, secondary school 34, primary school 148, community primary school 7, satellite school 43, NGO education centre 30, madrasa 19. Noted educational institutions: Assasuni College (1969), Sreeula Secondary School (1881), Budhata B.B.M High School (1925), Assasuni Secondary School (1940), Pratap Nagar ABS Fazil Madrasa (1952).

Newspapers and periodicals Monthly: Pralagav; quarterly: Pratya, Shradhanjali; defunct: Jagarani.

Cultural organizations Club 46, library 1, theatre group 2, cinema hall 1, opera party 1, literary society 1.

Main sources of income Agriculture 63.11%, non-agricultural labourer 5.12%, commerce 16.98%, transport and communication 1.74%, industry 0.96%, service 3.56%, construction 0.62%, religious service 0.24%, rent and remittance 0.14% and others 7.53%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 58.34%, landless 41.66%; agricultural landowner: urban 39.56% and rural 59.08%.

Main crops Paddy, jute, potato, wheat, pulses, sugarcane, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Linseed, sesame, sweet potato, mungbean, khesari.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, black berry, plum.

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

Communication facilities Pucca road 46.40 km, mud road 462.66 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, boat, horse carriage.

Manufactories Rice mill, ice factory.

Noted Hats, bazars and fairs Budhhata Hat, Mahishkur Bazar and Barada Bazar.

Main exports Shrimp, betel leaf, madur, plum, arum

Access to electricity All the unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 9.70% dwellings have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 81.84%, pond 13.56%, tap 1.03% and others 3.57%. Presence of arsenic in shallow tube-well water of the upazila is excessive. In a research conducted by BGS and DP H in 2001 it known that the average presence of arsenic in shallow tube-well' is 133 microgram. However, about 67% of tube-well water contain arsenic more than 150 microgram.

Sanitation 40.91% (rural 40.05% and urban 62.77%) of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 44.40% (rural 45.05% and urban 27.73%) of dwelling household use non-sanitary latrines; 14.69% of households do not have latrine facilities.'

Health centers Upazila health complex 1, rural health center 1, family welfare center 7.

'Natural Disasters The famine 1770 (Siyatturer Manvantar), 1886, 1898-98, 1921, 1943 and 1974 are notable. The famine of 1921 is known as 'Sundarban Famine'; besides an earthquake was occurred in 1897 and on 29 November 1988 a devastating cyclone caused a huge number of damages in the region.

NGO brac, asa, care, Rupantar, Pallichetona, Raktakarabi, Assasuni Development Organisation. [Sachhida Nanda De]

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