Paikgachha Upazila

Paikgachha Upazila (khulna district) area 411.19 sq km, located in between 22°28' and 22°43' north latitudes and in between 89°14' and 89°28' east longitudes. It is bounded by tala and dumuria upazilas on the north, koyra upazila on the south, batiaghata and dacope upazilas on the east, Tala and assasuni upazilas on the west.

Population Total 247983; male 123900, female 124083; Muslim 166564, Hindu 80332 and Christian 1087.

Water bodies Main rivers: kobadak, shibsa, Marichap, Haria, Shengrail; Mora Bhadar Gang is notable.

Administration Paikgachha Thana was formed on 22 April, 1872 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983. Paikgachha Municipality was formed on 1 February 1998.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	10	166	212	16017	231966	603	65.9	51.9

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
5.53	9	11	16017	2896	65.9

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Kapilmuni 50	9364	16354	16657	49.8
Garuikhali 39	10475	11281	11524	56.3
Gadaipur 33	5120	9788	9881	49.7
Chandkhali 16	10307	18612	19122	45.6
Deluti 27	13083	7746	7808	55.9
Raruli 83	6016	13059	13093	50.2
Lata 67	11701	5643	5213	58.3
Laskar 61	10321	10314	10149	53.8
Sholadana 89	12325	11169	11138	60.1
Haridhali 44	4777	11730	11685	49.4

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Ancient remains and some dhibis (Agra and Kapilmuni).

Historical events The people of this region were highly influenced by the anti British Movement. In 1930 the people of this upazila, defying the salt law, conducted movement responding to the call of Mahatma Gandhi. The Congress leaders of the greater Khulna district, in defying the law, had a long march to reach at Kotipara of Baruli on foot, and initiated production of salt out of water of the river Kobadak. However, they were resisted by the police; besides, the police also arrested many local people including the Congress leaders. In retaliation the anti British movement became invigorated.

War of Liberation During the war of liberation the Pak army conducted mass killing and plundering; they also set many houses of the upazila on fire. On 17 September the razakars launched an attack on the freedom fighters at Boalia in which the razakars were defeated. But on 19 September freedom fighters Qumrul Islam, Enayet Ali Moral and Sankar Kumar Adhikari were killed in an encounter with the Pak army and razakars at Bankar. During the period from 6 to 9 December encounters were held between the freedom fighters and the Pak army at Kapilmuni in which the main base of the razakars in the Binod Bhaban of Kapilmuni fell.

For details: see পাইকগাছা উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation Bangla Version), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৫।

Religious institutions Mosque 162, temple 55, church 3, sacred place 1.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 52.8%; male 58.6%, female 47.1%. Educational institutions: college 9, secondary school 53, primary school 170, 0 kindergarten 4, CSS school 4, community school' 3, madrasa 60. Noted educational institutions: Paikgachha College (1967), Kapilmuni College (1967), Shaheed Ayub Musa College (1967), Haridhali Union Secondary School, Paikgachha Government High School, Paikgachha Government Girls High School.

Newspapers and periodicals Weekly: Sotter Zhanda, Sundarban Barta (irregular).

Main sources of income Agriculture 53.14%, non-agricultural labourer 5.48%, industry 1.50%, commerce 22.93%, transport and communication 2.82%, service 4.11%, construction 1.16%, religious service 0.21%, rent and remittance 0.12% and others 8.53%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 54.28%, landless 45.72%; agricultural landowner: urban 39.71% and rural 55.13%.

Main crops Paddy, jute, wheat, pulse, sesame, betel leaf, turmeric, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Ginger, kaun, black gram, sugarcane, mustard.

Main fruits Mango, blackberry, jackfruit, sapodilla, lemon, coconut.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 2837, dairy 63, poultry 48.

Communication facilities Pucca road 83 km, semi-pucca road 203 km, mud road 419 km; waterway 14 km.

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

Noted manufactories Textile mill, jute and jute made industry, salt mill, leather industry, oil mill, rice mill, handloom, fishing net factory, bakery.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, potteries, weaving, metal handicraft, bidi factory, mat and reeds, tailoring, wood work, dry fish processing, manufacture of molasses.

Hats, bazars and fairs Paikgachha Hat, Kapilmuni Hat, Agarghatar Hat and Baruni Mela are notable.

Main exports Jute, coconut, fish.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 45.1% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 62.4%, tap 1.6% and others 36.0%. The presence of level of arsenic has been detected in 65% shallow tube-well water of the upazila.

Sanitation 57.6% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 37.7% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 4.7% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Hospital 1, upazila health complex 1, family planning centre 10, maternity and child clinic 1, satellite clinic 6, clinic 25.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa. [Ashraful Islam Goldar]

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