Habiganj Sadar ( bn, হবিগঞ্জ সদর) is an
upazila
An ''upazila'' ( bn, উপজেলা, upôzela, lit=sub-district pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative region in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a ...
of
Habiganj District
Habiganj ( bn, হবিগঞ্জ, Hobigonj), formerly known as Habibganj ( bn, হবিবগঞ্জ, Hobibgonj), is a district in north-eastern Bangladesh, located in the Sylhet Division. It was established as a district in 1984 as a succe ...
in the Division of
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
.
Geography
Habiganj Sadar is located at . It has 38977 households and total area 253.74 km
2.
Demographics
As of the
1991 Bangladesh census
In 1991, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, conducted a national census in Bangladesh. They recorded data from all of the districts and upazilas and main cities in Bangladesh including statistical data on population size, households, sex and age ...
, Habiganj Sadar has a population of 225469. Males constitute 51.75% of the population, and females 48.25%. This Upazila's eighteen up population is 117014. Habiganj Sadar has an average literacy rate of 30.6% (7+ years), and the national average of 32.4% literate.
Administration
Habiganj Sadar Upazila is divided into Habiganj Municipality, Shayestaganj Municipality, and ten
union parishad
Union council ( bn, ইউনিয়ন পরিষদ, translit=iūniyan pariṣad, translit-std=IAST), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit ...
s: Gopaya, Laskerpur, Lukra, Nijampur, Nurpur, Poil, Rajiura, Richi, Shayestaganj, and Teghoria. The union parishads are subdivided into 157 mauzas and 248 villages.
Habiganj Municipality and Shayestaganj Municipality are each subdivided into 9 wards.
Education
There are five colleges in the upazila. They include Government Habiganj Mohila College and Shaistagonj Degree College.
Brindaban Government College, founded in 1931, is the only honors level one.
The madrasa education system includes one fazil and one kamil madrasa.
Railroad
*
Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line
The Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line is a railway line connecting Akhaura and Chhatak, via Kulaura in Bangladesh. This line is under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh Railway. Shaistaganj Junction railway station is a junction station s ...
Shaistaganj-Habiganj railroad section's four railway station established by Assam Bengal railway 1928
*
Habiganj Bazar
*
Habiganj Court
*
Dhuliakhal
*
Paikpara
Shaistaganj Junction
N.B.: Shaistaganj railway station established by Assam Bengal railway 1903. In 1928-29 when the Habiganj Bazar-Shaistaganj-Balla railway link was opened, it became a junction railway station.
Shaistaganj-Chunarughat railroad section's seven railway station established by Assam Bengal railway 1929
*
Barkula
*
Shakir Muhammed
*
Sutang Bazar
*
Chunarughat
Chunarughat ( bn, চুনারুঘাট) is an Upazila of Habiganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Geography
Chunarughat is located at . It has 43660 households and total area 495.52 km2.
History
Rajapur (Tekarghat) i ...
*
Amu Road
*
Assampara
*
Balla
Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line
During the colonial British rule, train services were started by rail at Habiganj Mahukuma in Sylhet district of the then (Undivided British-India) Assam province.
In 1928, the British government built the
Habiganj Bazar-Shaistaganj-Balla line
Habiganj ( bn, হবিগঞ্জ) is a major town and district headquarters of Habiganj District in the division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Population: Total population of Habiganj is about 95,000
Railroad
*Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Ba ...
as railway line and built infrastructure.
The railway line was opened by the
Assam Bengal Railway
The Assam Bengal Railway (ABR) was one of the pioneering railway companies in British India. Headquartered in Chittagong, it functioned from 1892 to 1942.
History
Assam Bengal Railway was incorporated in 1892 to serve British-owned tea planta ...
by the then British government from Habiganj district headquarters town to Balla border via Shaistaganj junction, about 45 or 52 kilometers long railway line.
Of these, the Shaistaganj-Habiganj (15 or 16 km) railway line was inaugurated in 1928 and the Shaistaganj-Balla (30 or 36 km) railway line was inaugurated in 1929.
Coal-engined trains used to run between eight stations at Habiganj Bazar, Habiganj Court, Shaistaganj Junction, Shakir Mohammad, Chunarughat, Amuroad, Assampara and Balla bordering Tripura.
Of these, Chunarughat, Amur road and Assampara stations were of great importance. Tea produced in 22 tea gardens from those three stations was transported by rail.
At that time, this railway was the only means of exporting tea leaves of 13 gardens of Chunarughat upazila of Habiganj at a low cost and importing related items including garden rations.
There are a total of 4 stations on the Shaistaganj-Habiganj railway line (excluding Shaistaganj Junction), namely: Habiganj Bazar, Habiganj Court, Dhuliakhal and Paikpara. The Shaistaganj-Balla railway line has a total of 7 stations (excluding Shaistaganj Junction), namely: Barkula, Shakir Muhammed, Sutang Bazar, Chunarughat, Amu Road, Assampara and Balla.
After the independence of Bangladesh, the importance of the Balla train increased further. For this reason, the railway authorities built two more stations named Sutang Bazar and Barkula, known as remote areas.
At that time, the role of the train in bringing back refugees from India was commendable.
At that time, a diesel engine was added to the ballar train. The train used to travel twice a day from Habiganj to the border station Balla.
After the end of the refugee transportation phase, the smugglers took over the train in Balla. Later, the train of Balla became a train of smugglers.
At first, the passengers protested about this, but later the passengers got the opportunity to travel without a ticket.
In such a situation, the running train suffered losses. The railway authorities suspended the renovation work of the railway line. The train continues at great risk. The speed comes down to 15 kilometers.
During the tenure of the military ruler Ershad government, the train movement on this route was stopped unannounced for the first time.
In the face of the movement of passengers, the train started running again within a week.
A few days after the BNP came to power in 1991, the movement of the ballar train was again stopped unannounced.
Various social organizations started a movement demanding the movement of trains.
For this reason, the government decided to run the train under private management.
After running under private management for some time, the train was stopped again.
After the Awami League government came to power in 1996, the then Finance Minister late Shah AMS Kibria, (Member of parliament) elected from Habiganj Sadar-Lakhai Upazila (Habiganj-3) constituency, under the sincere political efforts of the late Shah AMS Kibria, the railway line was upgraded in 2000. Although the train service was started, the last train movement on this line was stopped in 2003.
Ever since the undeclared closure of the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, an influential quarter has been looking at the huge resources of the railways.
Around 2005, about 15 kilometers of railway line from Habiganj Bazar to Shaistaganj railway junction was removed on the pretext of making a road.
Later, the railway line from Shaistaganj to Habiganj was lifted and a bypass road was constructed.
The Habiganj-Balla train could not be restarted even after a long time.
Railway land worth crores of rupees has been occupied by breaking the name of politics.
Railway employees who used to stay at different stations are also living by occupying railway land and constructing buildings. Some employees are pocketing money by constructing buildings on railway land and installing tenants.
In 2003, the railway line was abandoned after the train service on this route was stopped.
Since then, railway property worth crores of rupees has been looted. In the meantime, valuable equipment of the road and furniture of the station house have been looted.
Now the railway land is being occupied. A section of people are occupying these lands and building buildings. They are cultivating various crops. The name of Shaistaganj Junction is associated with the abandoned railway line. The locals demanded that the train be restarted on this railway line soon to protect the tradition of the junction.
After the Awami League government came to power in 2008, railway minister late Suranjit Sengupta was accorded a reception by the people of Shaistaganj. At that time, he assured that the Balla train would be started within a few days.
When Suranjit Sen became a political victim, the train from Habiganj Sadar to Balla could not be started again.
The train from Habiganj Sadar to Balla is still closed. Locals said four of the habiganj-Shaistaganj-Balla railway stations are located in Habiganj Sadar upazila and seven in Chunarughat upazila.
Shaistaganj Junction in Shaistaganj Upazila. That is why on the eve of the 11th parliamentary election, various demands were raised from the common people, including the introduction of the Ballar train from Habiganj Sadar, the recovery of the land of the train.
During the election campaign, Awami League leaders also assured to start the Ballar train from Habiganj Sadar, but even after the past years, no word has been uttered from the leaders about the introduction of the train.
The expectations of the people of Chunarughat-Madhabpur upazila (Habiganj-4) have increased a lot after Mahbub Ali, (Member of parliament), became the state minister for civil aviation and tourism.
The common people think that Minister Mahbub Ali can restart the Balla train from Habiganj Bazar i.e. Habiganj Sadar to Chunarughat Balla Land Port, the tradition of the area and Habiganj district.
And ordinary people are looking for the way in that hope.
Railway History
The Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line is a railway line connecting
Akhaura and
Chhatak
Chhatak ( bn, ছাতক; formerly known as Chhatak Bazaar) is a town in northeastern Bangladesh, on the Surma River in Chhatak Upazila of Sunamganj District in the division of Sylhet Division, Sylhet.
Further reading
* {{cite book , last=Ho ...
, via
Kulaura
Kulaura ( bn, কুলাউড়া) is the biggest upazila (subdistrict) of the Moulvibazar District in north-eastern Bangladesh. The total area of this upazila is 545 km2. Hakaluki Haor, the largest marsh wetland in Sylhet and one of the ...
in Bangladesh. This line is under the jurisdiction of
Bangladesh Railway
Bangladesh Railway ( bn, বাংলাদেশ রেলওয়ে) is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains all railways in the country, and is overseen by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Ra ...
. Shaistaganj Junction railway station is a
junction station ''Junction station'' usually refers to a railway station situated on or close to a junction where lines to several destinations diverge. The usual minimum is three incoming lines. At a station with platforms running from left to right, the minimum ...
situated in
Shayestaganj Upazila
Shayestaganj ( bn, শায়েস্তাগঞ্জ), also spelt Shaistaganj, is an upazila (sub-district) of Habiganj District in northeastern Bangladesh, part of the Sylhet Division. There is one Paurasava (Municipality) and three Unions ...
of
Habiganj District
Habiganj ( bn, হবিগঞ্জ, Hobigonj), formerly known as Habibganj ( bn, হবিবগঞ্জ, Hobibgonj), is a district in north-eastern Bangladesh, located in the Sylhet Division. It was established as a district in 1984 as a succe ...
in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. It was opened in 1903 on
Akhaura–Kulaura–Chhatak line
The Akhaura–Kulaura–Chhatak line is a railway line connecting Akhaura and Chhatak, via Kulaura in Bangladesh. This line is under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh Railway
History
In response to the demands of the Assam tea planters for a rail ...
.
Then it became a junction station when
Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line
The Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line is a railway line connecting Akhaura and Chhatak, via Kulaura in Bangladesh. This line is under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh Railway. Shaistaganj Junction railway station is a junction station s ...
railway was opened in 1928–29.
But later in 2003, that line was abandoned as is closed in an unannounced manner and in 2005,
the Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj line was taken off.
In response to the demands of the Assam tea planters for a railway link to
Chittagong port
The Chittagong Port ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বন্দর) is the main seaport of Bangladesh. Located in