Biral Upazila

 township, subdistrict, fourth-level administrative division, local government

Biral Upazila (Dinajpur district) with an area of 352.15 sq km, is bounded by Bochaganj and Kaharole upazilas on the north, Indian borders on the south, south-west and north-west, Dinajpur sadar upazila and Punarbhaba river on the east. Main rivers are Punarbhaba and Tangon; Karai and Nal Beels are notable.

The location of Biral town is 25.6312649N 88.5491667E. Biral (Town) consists of 4 mouzas with an area of 11.11 sq km. The town has a population of 9467; male 51.75%, female 48.25%. The density of population is 852 per sq km. The literacy rate among the town people is 37.3%. The town has one railway station, one dakbungalow.

Biral thana was established in 1915 and was turned into an upazila in 1984. It consists of 10 union parishads, 241 mouzas and 235 villages.

As of the 1991 Bangladesh census, Populations 231476; male 51.55%, female 48.45%; Muslim 72.23%, Hindu 26.04%, Buddhist 0.48%, Christian 0.01% and others 1.23%.

Main occupations Agriculture 48.21%, agricultural labourer 28.79%, wage labourer 1.92%, commerce 9.26%, transport 1.54%, construction 1.13%, service 3.43%, others 5.72%.

Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 27.29%; male 35.6%, female 19.1%. Educational institutions: college 6, high school 34, non-government primary school 84, government primary school 71, madrasa 43, orphanage 2, satellite school 3, vocational (textiles) institute 1. Noted Institutions: Biral Government Primary School, Silver Jubilee MC School, Kanaibari High School and Mohana Mangalpur High School.

Cultural organisations Club 17, public library 1 and cinema hall 1.

Religious institutions Mosque 421, temple 80, tomb 4.

Land use Cultivable land 31061 hectares; fallow 122.42 hectares; single crop 20.43%, double crop 65.50% and treble crop 14.07%. Land under irrigation 52.28%.

Land control Among the peasants 46.62% are landless, 23.51% small peasants, 21.91% medium peasants, 7.96% rich; per capita cultivable land 0.31 hectare.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 87 km, semi pucca 6 km, mud road 325 km and railways 34 km.

Manufacture and Cottage Industries Automatic rice mill 3, husking machine 110, ice factory 2, biscuit factory 3, saw mill 7, flour mill 1 and 4 lathe machines.

Cottage industries Goldsmith 10, blacksmith 15, potteries 150, woodwork 80 and chalk making 20.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa, caritas, grameen bank, proshika, Deep Shikha, Samaj Pragati Parishad, Bivash, CDA and Shiksha Foundation.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, union health and family planning centre 10, community health centre 13 and Islamic Mission Hospital 1.

Biral Land Port is situated here. Currently the port handles a reasonable quantity of varieties of consumer goods imported from India through land route. The major important items are stone chips, fertilizer, rice, wheat, sugar, different food items and various fruits. Total 10 acres of land have been acquired for the port site 200 meters away from Bangladesh-Indian borderline in mouza of Char Sankar.