CHAPTER TWO: DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA
Jaintiapur: Situated 43 km. to the north of Sylhet town, on the Sylhet- Shillong road, Jaintiapur was the capital of an ancient kingdom which included the khasi and Jaintia Hills and plains of Jainta. Interesting ruins of this forgotten period lie scattered throughout Jaintiapur.
Jaintiapur Upazila area 258.69 sq km is bounded by Meghalaya (India) on the north, kanaighat and golabganj upazilas on the south, Kanaighat upazila on the east, gowainghat and sylhet sadar upazilas on the west. The hill series of northeast are known as Jaflong Hills. Main river is shari-goyain. Haors 2 (Kenti Haor and Biraimara Haor); Kakai, Pitha, Dhupani, Palli and Sat beels are noted.
Jaintiapur (Town) consists of one mouza. It has an area of 2.27 sq km; population 5,769; male 52.71%, female 47.29%; density of population is 2541 per sq km. Literacy rate among the town people is 47.6%. The town has one dakbungalow.
Administration Jaintiapur thana, now an upazila, was established in 1903. The upazila consists of 3 union parishads, 160 mouzas and 173 villages.
Archaeological heritage Megalith Monument, remnants of Jaintiaswari Temple, remnants of Jaintia Rajbari, Sarighat Temple.
Religious institutions Mosque 227, temple 7, church 2, tomb 4.
Population 98270; male 51.02%, female 48.98%; Muslim 89.81%, Hindu 9.59%, Christian 0.17%, and tribal 0.43%; ethnic nationals: 80 Khasi families living in Nizpat and Jaflong villages.
Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 35.45%; male 40.3%, female 30.6%. Educational institutions: college 2, secondary school 4, junior high school 3, primary school (government) 41, primary school (private) 15, madrasa 16. Central Jaintia High School (1955), Haripur High School (1957) are important educational institutions.
Cultural organisations Rural club 17, playground 3.
Main occupations Agriculture 38.69%, agricultural labourer 17.77%, wage labourer 12.52%, fishing 2.5%, commerce 7.70%, service 5.69%, and others 14.99%.
Land use Single crop 58.25%, double crop 38.79% and triple crop land 2.96%; tea garden 6.
Land control Among the peasants 50.32% are landless, 14% marginal, 29% intermediate and 6.68% rich.
Value of land Market value of the first grade agricultural land is about Tk 2500 to 5000 (per 0.01 hectare).
Main crops Paddy, tea, potato, garlic, cassia-leaf, betel nut, betel leaf.
Extinct and nearly extinct crops Tobacco (nearly extinct).
Main fruits Jackfruit, pineapple, lemon.
Fisheries, dairies, poultries Fishery 20, dairy 35 and poultry 28.
Communication Roads: pucca 60 km, mud road 362 km; waterways play vital role in rainy season for connecting the low lying areas.
Traditional transport palanquin (extinct) and bullock cart (nearly extinct), country boat.
Cottage industries Goldsmith 55, blacksmith 110, potters 180.
Mineral resource natural gas, crude oil.
Hat-bazars and fairs Hats and bazars 7, mela 3; Jaintiapur, Darbasu, Haripur, Chiknagul, Shukrabari, etc are notable hats and bazars.
Main exports Natural gas, gravel, limestone, tea, cassia-leaf, betel nut, betel leaf, lemon.
NGO activities brac.
Health centres Upazila health centre 1, family planning centre 5, and satellite clinic 2. (Roy, J.S. 2004).
Map 2.1: Map of study area
