Pabna District


Pabna District is a district in central Bangladesh. It is one of the "economically important districts" in Bangladesh. Its administrative capital is the :wikt:eponym|eponymous Pabna town.

History

conjectured that the name "Pabna" might be derived from the Pundra or Poondrobordhon civilisation, whose capital was Mahasthangarh, the oldest city of Bangladesh, in neighbouring Bogra, but this hypothesis has not received general acceptance among scholars.
In 1859–61, the district was one of the major areas involved in the Indigo revolt. Beginning in Yusufshahi period in 1873, the serfs resisted excessive demands of increased rents by feudal lords, led by the nouveau riches Banerjees and Dwijendranath Tagore, by forming an Agrarian League. This largely peaceful movement found the support of the Lieutenant-governor of Bengal, George Campbell, who antagonised the absentee feudal lords. These protests are generally referred to as Pabna disturbances. In the following year, the district was one of the worst hit by famine. The peasants' demands were finally partially met with the Rent Law Act of 1885.
In 1875, Raaygonj was transferred back to Pabna from Bogra, and in 1879, a separate judgeship for the districts of Pabna and Bogra was created.
The history of Pabna was written by Advocate Chowdhury Mohammad Badruduzza.
Sharir

Demographics

Of the 2.1 million inhabitants, 51.17% are male; 90.12% are Muslims, 9.50% are Hindu, 0.22% are Christian, and 0.16% are other. The district has 2353 mosques, 420 Hindu temples, and 11 churches. No Buddhist pagoda is in Pabna.
Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra Aasrom beside Mental Hospital, Pabna at Hemayetpur has the largest Hindu temple in Pabna.

Geography

Pabna forms the south-east boundary of Rajshahi Division. Sirajganj District is on the north-east, while the Padma River, main stream of the holy river Ganges, in the south separates it from Rajbari District and Kushtia District. The Jamuna River runs along its eastern border separating it from Manikgonj District; and on the north-west, it has a common boundary with the Natore District. Its average maximum temperature is 36.8 °C, and the minimum is 9.6 °C; annual rainfall is 1872 mm. Characteristically, the soil of the district is divided into four, due to the flood plains of the Ganges, Karatoya, Jamuna, and Barind Tracts. Its main rivers are the Ganges, Ichamati, Gumani, Baral, and Hurasagar Rivers.

Climate

Rivers

The district is intersected by rivers of varying magnitude. The river system, though, is constituted by the Padma and the Jamuna with their interlacing offshoots and tributaries.
Besides these flowing streams, the interiorhas the abandoned beds of old rivers, most of which are dry except in the rains.

The general trend of the drainage of the Serajganj subdivision is from north-west to south-east, with the rivers entering it from the north-west flow into the Jamuna after a tortuous course. In the Sadar subdivision, however, the general slope of the country is from west to east, and the main rivers fall into Hurasagar, an offshoot of the Jamuna.
The following rivers flow through Pabna District:
  1. Padma River
  2. Ichhamati River
  3. Baral River
  4. Atrai River
  5. Chiknai River
  6. Jamuna River
  7. Kazipur River
  8. Karatoya River
  9. Hurasgar River
  10. Gumany River
  11. Rotnai River
  12. Badai river
  13. kageshari river
  14. sutikhali river
  15. Komla river
  16. chondraboti river
  17. barnai river

    Economy

Water from the river Jamuna is pumped from Bera pump house to the east through the Baral river.

Points of interest

Pakshey is a popular green area and a small town. The railway colony of Paksey, divisional headquarters of Bangladesh Railway, has many old trees, and is beside the river Padma and the Hardinge Bridge. An export processing zone and the newly built Lalon Shah Bridge are situated here.
Idyllic Poddar Par at Shilaaidoho Ghaat is 5 km south of town's old Technical Institute, where people can enjoy a river cruise. A river crossing here connects to Shilaaidoho of Kumarkhali Upazila of Kushtia District. Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore had a Koothibari at Shilaaidoho, where his birth anniversary is celebrated regularly.
Bangladesh Mental Hospital, Pabna is a hospital beside Pabna's main town, and the only mental hospital in Bangladesh. Mental patients from anywhere in Bangladesh to there to get treatment.
There is a marshy area, Chalan Beel, in the north.
Dhalarchar was famous for crime, but it is now popular and valuable for its geographical position after established Aminpur Thana.

Administration

The district comprises nine upazilas:
  1. Atgharia Upazila
  2. Bera Upazila
  3. Bhangura Upazila
  4. Chatmohar Upazila
  5. Faridpur Upazila
  6. Ishwardi Upazila
  7. Pabna Sadar Upazila
  8. Santhia Upazila
  9. Sujanagar Upazila
A general hospital and a mental hospital are at Pabna. The 11 thanas of the district hold a Upazila health complex each. Each Upazila health complex has qualified doctors who got appointment through Bangladesh Civil Service commission. For better treatment, people need to go to medical college and other tertiary hospitals in Rajshahi or Dhaka.
The 250-bed government general hospital is here, with a 450-bed mental hospital, second oldest in Indian subcontinent, only after Ranchi Mental Hospital, Jharkhand, India. Recently, government-owned Pabna Medical College and Hospital has been set up. Around 15 health clinics are available.
Mental Hospital, Pabna and Pabna Medical College and Hospital are built on land donated by Lord Thakur Anukulchandra at Hemayetpur.
Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed has started its 10th subcenter at Pabna in the name of “CRP- Pabna Diabetic Shamity” from January 2017 with the collaboration of Pabna Diabetic Shamity to provide rehabilitation services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, awareness raising program regarding disability and rehabilitation, and scarf-injury prevention, and also provide assistive devices to the persons with disabilities.

Transport

Roads, waterways, railways, and one airport are present. The traditional paalkee, tomtom, and gorur gaari are now going out of the fashion. The nosimon and korimon, locally made mechanical haulers using irrigation pumps as their main engines, are mainly used for transporting agricultural goods and rural folks. Inexpensive Chinese electric and petrol autobikes are gaining popularity as urban transport. Dhaka is about five hours by road.
Hardinge Bridge and Lalon Shah Bridge over the Padma linked Pabna with Kushtia District and Khulna Division, and the southern Bangladesh. Before the Partition of India, it was a major stoppage for trains from Kolkata to Assam and Darjeeling. The Hardinge Bridge already passed a glorious and historical hundred years. Pabna is also connected to Dhaka by the age old roadway through the Jamuna River crossing at Nogorbari, opposite to the river crossing of Aricha at Manikgonj District. It is also very well communicated with Dhaka by modern roads through Jamuna Bridge. There is a new rail link established to Pabna town.
Pabna Railway Station situated in near Pabna Central Bus Terminal. Nearby rail stations are situated in Tebunia, Chatmohar Upazila and Ishwardi Upazila. Ishwardi Upazila is one of the important railway junctions of the North Bengal as well as in Bangladesh. There are nine rail stations in this district: Ishwardi, Ishwardi Bypass, Pakshi, Muladuli, Chatmohar, Bhangura, Baral Bridge, Sharat Nagar, Dilpashar and Guakhara. Pabna is well connected by road, rail, river or air to the rest of the country.
Ishwardi Upazila has an airport. Biman Bangladesh Airlines used to operate twice-weekly services to Ishwardi from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka, but no airline is operating to and from Ishwardi now.
Several Dhaka-bound private bus services are available: Pabna Express, Shyamoli Parbahan, Sarkar Travels, Raja Badshah, Ishurdi Express, Shahzadpur Travels, Baadol, Night Star, Kings, Esha, Mahanagar, Capital Service, Sakal Shandha, Uttara, B Nagar, Al Hamra etc. Government owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation provides bus services to Rajshahi and Bogra cities. Water transport is important, as the Padma and other rivers, and Chalan Beel are situated in Pabna. In Pabna district ride by nosimon, rickshawvan, and korimon are pleasant.

Education

Overall, literacy is male 71.8% and female 65.7% A renowned science and technology university, Pabna University of Science and Technology, is located there, as are 34 colleges, a cadet college, a law college, a government polytechnic institute, a government vocational training institute, a textiles college, a government commerce college, a teachers' training college, a primary teacher's training institute, a nursing training institute, a homoeopathic college, 202 high schools, 29 junior high schools, a Madrassa Aliya, 261 qaomi madrassa, 667 government primary schools, 445 nongovernment primary schools, eight community schools, 29 kindergartens, 32 satellite schools, 299 NGO-operated schools, and a music college. Pabna Zilla School, Pabna Edward College, and Banwarinagar C.B. Pilot High School of this district are very old in the region - over a hundred years.
Noted educational institutions are:
School
Locally published newspapers and periodicals:
National dailies like Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, Jugantor, Ittefaq, Kaaler Kontho, Janakantha, Amader Shomoy, The New Age are also available.

Members of ninth Jatiyo Sangshad (2009 – )