Goalundo Ghat

Goalundo Ghat (also Goalanda and Goalondo) (Bengali: গোয়ালন্দঘাট) is a small town and pourasabha in Goalandaghat Upazila, Rajbari District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh, South Asia. There are two railway stops one at Goalundo Ghat and one at Goalundo Bazar.[1] The town has an area of 4.86 km2 and a population of 22,000 inhabitants (2001 estimate).[2]

Goalandaghat or Goalanda

গোয়ালন্দঘাট
Municipality
Skyline of Goalandaghat, Bangladesh
Goalandaghat or Goalanda
Location in Bangladesh
Coordinates: 23°44′N 89°45.7′E
Country Bangladesh
DivisionDhaka Division
DistrictRajbari District
UpazilaGoalandaghat Upazila
Area
 • Total149.03 km2 (57.54 sq mi)
Population
 (1991)
 • Total91,675
 • Density620/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+6 (BST)
WebsiteOfficial Map of Goalandaghat
Goalanda Ghat

Historical significance

The Eastern Bengal Railway opened the line from Kolkata to Goalundo, on the southern bank of the Padma in 1871.[3] Goalundo was for many years a major transportation hub for travel in eastern parts of Bengal and Assam. Here is a brief on the importance of Goalundo Ghat in earlier years: “If one goes from Calcutta to Dacca the rail journey is broken at Goalundo and from there to Narayanganj is continued by steamer. The night mail from Calcutta deposits one at Goalundo in the early hours of the morning. It is situated at the junction of the Padma, or Ganges, and the Brahmaputra, and daily services of steamers connect it with the railway systems at Narayanganj and Chandpur, and with the steamer services to Madaripur, Barisal, Sylhet, and Cachar. There are also daily services of steamers up the Padma to Digha Ghat , Patna in the dry season, and Buxar in the rains, and up the Brahmaputra to Dibrugarh. From that it will be seen that Goalundo occupies a very strong strategic position in the waterways of Bengal, a position which has been made much stronger by railway development."[4]

Even after partition of India in 1947, the East Bengal Express ran up to 1964. That was the last direct link with Kolkata.[5][6] The Goalundo Ghat railway link has since been used only for internal travel in Bangladesh.

Changing scenario

Bus/road travel has since gained primary importance in Bangladesh. Most people use buses for travel from Dhaka and other places to Benapole and then cross over the border for links to Kolkata.[7] For a long time road transport has been using the Daulatdia-Paturia ferry crossing nearby. The ferry also carries long-distance buses across the Padma.[8]

The Government of Bangladesh has invited in November 2011 international tenders for the construction of the 6.1 km long second bridge across the Padma connecting Paturia and Daulatdia on a public-private partnership basis at a cost of 2 billion dollars.[9]

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References
  1. "Bangladesh Railway Route Map" 2001
  2. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, results from census 23 January 2001. Data corrected upwards by 6.23 percent, according to officially estimated loss during the counting process, with the result rounded to the nearest thousand.
  3. R.P.Saxena. "Indian Railway History timeline". Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  4. "Goalundo Ghat – From the Hooghly to the Himalayas (1913)". IRFCA. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  5. Sangeeta Thapliyal. "India-Bangladesh Transportation Links: A Move for Closer Cooperation". Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  6. "Geography – International". IRFCA. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  7. "Getting to Benapole". i-guide. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  8. "Dense fog disrupts ferry service for 12 hrs". Daily Sun. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  9. "Government invites tender for 2nd Padma Bridge Project". Bangladesh, 19 November 2011. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
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