Kumarkhail upazila

 store / shop, city, marketplace

Kumarkhali Upazila (Kushtia district) with an area of 265.89 sq km, is bounded by Pabna sadar upazila and the Ganges on the north, Shailkupa upazila on the south, Khoksa and Pangsha upazilas on the east, Kushtia sadar upazila on the west. Main rivers: Ganges, Garai, Kaliganga and Kumar.

The lcation of the Kumarkhali town is 23.8519112N 89.2421399E. Kumarkhali (Town) consists of 9 wards and 15 mahallas. The area of the town is 6.61 sq km. Kumarkhali was one of the first municipalities of undivided Bengal and was established as a municipal town in 1869. The town has a population of 19043; male 50.76%, female 49.24%; density of population is 2881 per sq km. Literacy rate among the town people is 51.4%. It is a famous whole sale market for handloom products. It has one dakbungalow and three rest houses.

Kumarkhali thana was established in 1855 and was upgraded to a subdivision of Pabna in 1857. It lost the status of subdivision in 1871, when it was included under Kushtia subdivision of Nadia district. The Kumarkhali thana was turned into an upazila in 1983. It consists of one municipality, 9 wards, 10 union parishads, 198 mouzas and 216 villages.

Archeological relics and monuments: Buddhist temple at Mirjapur (Pala period), Baliakandi Shahi Mosque (Mughal period), Kangal Majumdar's Press (1857), Kuthibari of Rabindranath Tagore (1862), Tomb of Lalon shah.

It is famous for the Shelaidaha area, where the poet Rabindranath Tagore had his zaminari kuthibari where he spent a considerable time of his youth.

As of the 1991 Bangladesh census, Population 269008; male 51.77% and female 48.23%; Muslim 94.63%, Hindu 5.36% and others 0.01%.

Religious institutions: Mosque 172, temple 25, eidgah 20, tomb 10, graveyard 15, cremating site 3.

Literacy and educational institutions: Average literacy 24.9%, male 30.3% and female 19.2%. Educational institutions: private college 7, teacher's training college 1, madrasa 7, private high school 29, junior school 10, government primary school 46, private primary school 51, satellite school 31, community school 6. Noted educational institutions: MN High School (1856), Kumarkhali Girl's School (1863), JN High School (1922) and Khorshedpur Protima Girl's School established by Tagore's daughter-in-law.

Main occupations: Agriculture 31.4%, commerce 14.98%, agricultural labourer 16.72%, wage labourer 5.82%, industry 1.47%, handloom 9.68%, transport 2.56%, construction 1.87%, others 10.48%.

Land use: Cultivable land 18484 hectare; fallow land 1200 hectare; single crop 23.88%, double crop 46.44% and treble crop 29.67%. Land under irrigation 12000 hectare.

Land control: Among the peasants 19.06% are landless, 11.39% marginal, 26.17% small, 15.41% medium and 27.97% large.

Fisheries, dairies, poultries Fishery 15, poultry 142, hatchery 5, dairy 100, nursery 50.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 193 km, semi pucca 204 km, mud road 402 km. Railway (established in 1870) 19.3 km; waterways 7 nautical mile.

Manufacture and cottage industries Kumarkhali is an important centre of the Bangladesh Handloom Board; about one hundred automated textile manufacturing units are located here. The upazila is rich in cottage industries especially in handloom, weaving and pottery.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa, BRDB, grameen bank, ITCL, Purbasha, Alo, AROVA, Apon, Shatabdi, Kormei Mukti.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, union health centre 9, family planning centre 4, mother and child welfare centre 1.