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Sitakunda Upazila

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Template:Infobox of upazilas Sitakunda (Template:Lang-bn) is an Upazila of Chittagong District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is most noted for its numerous religious shrines, of Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist denominations.

Geography and geology

Sitakunda Upazila has an area of 483.97 km².[1], bounded by Mirsharai on the north, Pahartali on the south, Fatickchhari, Hathazari and Panchlaish on the south, and the Sandwip Channel in the Bay of Bengal on the west.[2] Chandranath or Sitakunda is the highest peak in Chittagong District, with an altitude of 1152 feet above mean sea level.[3]

Balanus balanoides

The geological structure of Sitakunda, 70km long and 10km wide, is one of the westernmost structures of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts, delimited by the Feni River in the north, the Karnaphuli River in the south, the Halda River in the east and the Sandwip Channel in the west.[4] The Sitakunda Hill Range acts as a water divider between the Halda Valley and the Sandwip Channel. The structure contains a thick sedimentary sequence of sandstone, shale and siltstone. The exposed sedimentary rock sequences, 6,500m thick in an average, of the structure, except limestone, provide no difference in overall lithology from that of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts.[4] The Sitakunda fold is an elongated, asymmetrical, box-type doubly plunging anticline. Both the gently dipping eastern and steeper western flanks of the anticline is truncated abruptly by the alluvial plain of the Feni River.[4] This anticline is one of the few regularly surveyed structures in Bangladesh.[5]

The Girujan Clay Formation, named by P Evans[6], runs through Sitakunda at a thickness of 168m.[7][8][9] In the Sitakunda hills the Boka Bil Shale Formation, named by P Evans[6], contains Ostrea digitalina, Ostrea gryphoides and numerous plates of Balanus (a type of Barnacles), fragments of Arca, Pecten, Trochus, Oliva and corals.[7][10][11]

Demographics and administration

As of 1991 Bangladesh censusTemplate:GR, Sitakunda has a population of 274,903 distributed to 48,065 units of households[12][1]. Sitakunda has 10 Unions divided into 71 Mauzas, and 107 villages.[1] Sitakunda Town, the administrative center, has 9 wards divided into 21 mahallas, and a population of 34,530.[2] The town is the sole municipality of the upazila. The rest of the area is organized into 11 union parishads.[2] This Upazila's adult (18+) population is 143,147.[1]

History

There has been signs of human habitation in Sitakunda from pre-hisoric times. Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay mentioned the discovery of a fossilwood shouldered celt in the are in 1886.[13] Dr. J Coggin Brown reported a prehistoric celt from Shitakunda in 1917.[14] In the area extensive occurrences of pebbles have been noticed, but it could not be ascertained whether such pebbles were used for the making of prehistoric tools in this region.[13]

A large number of Rakhine people is believed to have settled in the area during the Arakanese rule of Chittaging (1459-1666), though the event is not historically traceable.[15] The Rakhaine population in Khagrachari District migrated from this region and built up their permanent abode at Ramgarh in the 19th century.[15]

In 1910, Indian Petroleum Prospecting Company drilled here for Hydrocarbon exploration, the first such activity in East Bengal. In 1914, the first onshore wildcat well in Bangladesh was drilled at Sitakunda anticline to a depth of 762 m.[16] But, by 1914 all four wells drilled in Sitakunda proved to be failures.[17]

Economy

Ship breaking in progress at Sitakunda

The main occupations of the local people are service (32.76%), commerce (13.88%), and agriculture (15.3%).[2] The local industry features a cement factory, 12 jute mills, 6 textile mills, 10 re-rolling mills, and 79 functional and defunct shipyards. Bean, melon, rubber and betel leaf are the main agricultural exports.[18][2] The rural poor is supported by Grameen Bank and NGOs like CARE, BRAC and ASA.[19]

In 1965, an accidentally beached ship started the ship breaking industry here[20], which was formalized in 1971 and which flourished in the 1980s.[21] As of August 2007, over 15 lac tons of iron is produced by scrapping about 20 ships in the 19 functional ship yards scattered over 8 km² along the coast of Sitakunda 8-10 kilometers from the Chittagong city near Fouzderhat. Local re-rolling mills, as well as similar mills run on the iron scrapped in Sitakunda.[18][21][22] Bangladesh, With no local metal ore mining, is dependent on ship-breaking for its domestic steel requirements, which substitutes an import of about 1.2 M-tonnes of billets and other raw materials by the measurement of the re-rolling mills alone.[21] There are 70 companies, registered as ship breakers in Chittagong, involved in the industry, who employ 2000 regular workers and 25,000 semi and unskilled workers.[22] The ship breaking industry here has superseded Indian and Pakistani industries in the sector.[23][24] But, the industry has come under threat from both a decline of ships scrapped annually, which has come down from 70-80 to about 20[18], and from the environmental and work safety issues.[20]

Pilgrimage

Sitakunda features 280 mosques (including the Shah Mosque) and 8 mazars (including Baro Awlias Mazar, Kalu Shah Mazar, Fakir Hat Mazar), 49 Hindu temples (inclduing Labanakhya Mandir, Chandranath Mandir, Shambunath Mandir) and 3 ashrams (inclduing Sitakunda Shankar Math), and 3 Buddhist temple.[2] The festivals of Shiva Chaturdashi and Chaitra Sankranti is observed in much fanfare and a large fairs.[2]

The Hammadyar Mosque located at village Masjidda and the Hammadyar Dighi, a big tank in front of it, was built during the reign of Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah, the last Husain Shahi sultan of Bengal, as inferred from the inscription above the central entrance.[25] The Sudarshan Vihara at village Mayani here, as well as the Vidarshanaram Vihara at village Mayani in Patiya was established in 1922 by Prajnalok Mahasthavir (1879-1971), an eminent Buddhist preacher of Bangladesh.[26]

At the top of Chandranath hills near Sitakunda of Chittagong district right arm of Divine Mother Sati fell and this place is considered holy and one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.[citation needed] The Mother's name is Bhavani and the Bhairav or Shiva is called Chandrasekhar.[citation needed] The Jagatpur ashram is also famous.[citation needed]

Biodiversity

The first eco-park in Bangladesh, along with a botanical garden, was established in 2001 under a five-year (2000–2004) development project on 1,996 acres of Chandranath Hills at a cost of Tk 3.57 crore in Sitakunda.[27] The eco-park was established to facilitate biodiversity conservation, natural regeneration, new plantations and infrastructure development, as well as promoting nature-based tourism to generate income. But, it is claimed that "ignoring the dependence of local people on park resources created conflicts between local communities and the park authority" and "prohibition on the extraction of forest products from the park... make the livelihoods of surrounding villagers vulnerable".[28]

The ship breaking industry is damaging the local ecology as well. One survey conducted by the students of the Institute of Marine Science of Chittagong University recently revealed that the soil of the locality contains heavy element of chemicals, including mercury (0.5 to 2.7 ppm), lead (0.5 to 21.8 ppm), chromium (220 ppm), cadmium (0.3 to 2.9 ppm), iron (2.6 to 5.6 ppm), calcium (5.2 to 23.2 ppm) and magnesium (6.5 to 10.57 ppm).[21][29]

Education

Average literacy of Sitakunda is 41.1% (7+ years) against a national average of 32.4% literate. [1][30] The educational institutions of the upazila includes : Faujdarhat Cadet College (founded in 1958), 4 other colleges college (including Sitakunda Degree College founded in 1968), 24 high school (including Sitakunda Government High School founded in 1913), 10 madrasas, and 76 junior school and primary schools.[2] Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah (1885-69), an eminent Bangladeshi linguist, served as the headmaster of the Government High School from 1914 to 1915.[31] Bangladesh Military Academy is also situated in this upazila.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Population Census Wing, BBS". Archived from the original on 2005-03-27. Retrieved November 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Sitakunda, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  3. ^ Chittagong City, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  4. ^ a b c Geological Structure, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  5. ^ Geological Survey, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  6. ^ a b Evans, P.; The tectonic framework of Assam; Journal of the Geological Society of India 5, 1964.
  7. ^ a b Geological Group Formation, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  8. ^ Application of a Ramp/Flat-Fault Model to Interpretation of the Naga Thrust Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  9. ^ Large sedimentation rate in the Bengal Delta Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  10. ^ Influence of overpressure on formation velocity evaluation of Neogene strata from the eastern Bengal Basin Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  11. ^ Miocene sedimentation and subsidence during continent–continent collision, Bengal basin Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  12. ^ Males constitute are 55.34% of the population, and females 44.66%
  13. ^ a b Prehistory, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  14. ^ Brown, J. Coggin; Prehistoric antiquities of India preserved in the Indian museum at Calcutta (ed. Marshall, John Hubert); Cosmo Publications, New Delhi, India 1988
  15. ^ a b The Magh, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  16. ^ Wildcat Well, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  17. ^ Hydrocarbon Exploration, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  18. ^ a b c Institutional Aspects of Ship Breaking Industry in Bangladesh, Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan Project, Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), Ministry of Water Resources, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Retrieved: 2007-08-25
  19. ^ Association for Social Advancement, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  20. ^ a b The Ship Breakers Of Bangladesh, 60 minutes, CBS News, 2006-11-05, Retrieved: 2007-11-05
  21. ^ a b c d Shipbreaking threatens environment along Ctg coastal areas The Daily Independent, Dhaka, 2007-08-24; Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  22. ^ a b Ship Breaking: A Background Paper, Ataur Rahman and AZM Tabarak Ullah, Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment (SafeWork), International Labour Organization; Retrieved: 2007-08-25
  23. ^ Shock Waves Demolish Alang, Times Shipping Journal, March 2004, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  24. ^ Ship-breaking industry: Uncertain future, Pakistan Economist, 2001-04-23, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  25. ^ Hammadyar Mosque, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  26. ^ Prajnalok Mahasthavir, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  27. ^ Eco-park, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
  28. ^ Nath, T.K. and M. Alauddin, Sitakunda botanical garden and eco-park, chittagong, Bangladesh: Its impacts on a rural community, The International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management, Volume 2, Number 1, March 2006, pp. 1-11(11).
  29. ^ DNV-Report: Shipbreaking Practices: On site assessment Chittagong, Bangladesh Retrieved: 2007-08-25
  30. ^ Male literacy 49.3% and female 30.6%
  31. ^ Shahidullah, Muhammad, Banglapedia: The National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Retrieved: 2007-08-24
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