Magurchhara Punji ( bn, মাগুরছড়া পুঞ্জি, Magurchhora Punji, Village of the walking catfish stream, kha, Magursora Puñji) is a
tribal
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...
village inhabited by the
Khasi
Khasi may refer to:
* Khasi people, an ethnic group of Meghalaya, India
* Khasi language, a major Austroasiatic language spoken in Meghalaya, India
* Khāṣi language, an Indo-Aryan language of Jammu and Kashmir, India
See also
* Khasi Hills
* Gh ...
ethnic minority.
[ It is located off the Srimangal–Kamalganj Highway in the 3rd Ward of Kamalganj Union, ]Kamalganj Upazila
Kamalganj ( bn, কমলগঞ্জ) is an upazila of the Moulvibazar District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Etymology
There was a local zamindar by the name of Kinkar Nath Ray who appointed a naib by the name of Kamal Narayan in orde ...
, Moulvibazar District
Moulvibazar ( bn, মৌলভীবাজার) also spelled Maulvibazar, Moulavibazar, and Maulavibazar, (former South Sylhet) is the southeastern district of Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh, named after the town of Moulvibazar. It i ...
, 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 ...
. As of 2006, Magurchara Punji had nearly 40 households. It is the larger of the two tribal villages located within Lawachara National Park
Lawachara National Park ( bn, লাউয়াছড়া) is a major national park and nature reserve in Bangladesh. The park is located at Kamalganj Upazila, Moulvibazar District in the northeastern region of the country. It is located with ...
, the other being Lawachara Punji.[ It has a population of 155 people.
]
History
The etymology of the village is of multiple words. Punji is a word in the Khasi language
Khasi () is an Austroasiatic language with just over a million speakers in north-east India, primarily the Khasi people in the state of Meghalaya. It has associate official status in some districts of this state. The closest relatives of Khasi ...
to refer to a cluster of homesteads for one tribe. Magur is the Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
name for a species of fish called ''walking catfish''. The Bengali suffix Chhara means small stream, and therefore literally, Magurchhara means the small stream of walking catfish
The walking catfish (''Clarias batrachus'') is a species of freshwater airbreathing catfish native to Southeast Asia. It is named for its ability to "walk" and wiggle across dry land, to find food or suitable environments. While it does not trul ...
.
The 14th of June is remembered as Magurchhara Day. The Magurchhara Tragedy took place at midnight on this day in 1997. During a well excavation, an explosion took place leading to a loss of roughly 14,000 koti Bangladeshi taka
The Bangladeshi taka ( bn, টাকা, currency sign, sign: , ISO 4217, code: BDT, Short form (linguistics), short form: Tk) is the currency of the Bangladesh, People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at .
Issuance of ban ...
s (UK £1.4 billion). The explosion was heard around the Kamalganj Upazila
Kamalganj ( bn, কমলগঞ্জ) is an upazila of the Moulvibazar District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
Etymology
There was a local zamindar by the name of Kinkar Nath Ray who appointed a naib by the name of Kamal Narayan in orde ...
. The 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 ...
, Fulbari Tea Estate, Srimangal-Kamalganj highway, local homesteads, and conservation forests and the local biodiversity such as the Lawachara National Park
Lawachara National Park ( bn, লাউয়াছড়া) is a major national park and nature reserve in Bangladesh. The park is located at Kamalganj Upazila, Moulvibazar District in the northeastern region of the country. It is located with ...
were heavily affected as well as the Bangladesh Power Development Board
The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is a government agency operating under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. It was created as a public-sector organization to boost ...
's 33,000kV main power line which burnt and exploded due to the high pressure. A further 28 tea gardens were also indirectly affected. Around 50 tea gardens in 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 ...
, Barlekha
Barlekha ( bn, বড়লেখা, Bôrlekha) is an upazila (sub-district) of Moulvibazar District, located in Bangladesh's Sylhet Division.
Etymology
Barlekha Upazila is named after Barlekha (formerly 'Barlikha') which means Great ''Likha''. ' ...
and Kamalganj reported issues of no power for a long period. The 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 ...
and Srimangal-Kamalganj highway was closed for 6 months. 695 hectares of forest resources were severely damaged and 200 billion cubic feet of gas, with a market value of 5 billion US dollars, burnt. Within two years after the incident, 87.5 acres of Lawachara National Park
Lawachara National Park ( bn, লাউয়াছড়া) is a major national park and nature reserve in Bangladesh. The park is located at Kamalganj Upazila, Moulvibazar District in the northeastern region of the country. It is located with ...
was destroyed due to the gas fire, with 20.5 acres being completely destroyed. The day has been commemorated by many organisations due to the government still not responding to the situation. The incident had both national and international coverage.
Flora and fauna
Magurchhara and has green hills. Gibbon
Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...
s and birds live in the forest of the Lawachara National Park. Tea plantation
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
s are located in the area surrounding the national park.
See also
* List of villages in Bangladesh
This is a list of villages in Bangladesh. A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town, with a population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Some villages in Bangladesh may be cov ...
References
Villages in Maulvibazar District
Kamalganj Upazila
{{Sylhet-geo-stub