Baro Vatra is a village in Gopalganj District

Gopalganj District (Bangladesh)

The district of Gopalganj consists 356 mosques, 359 temples, six churches and four tombs.-Places of interest:* Ulpur has a former Zamindar palace which is currently used a Tafsil Office and many other Zamindar mansions. It was the home of the Basu Roy Chowdhury family. Arpara has a zamindar palace...

, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, part of Muksudpur Upazila

Muksudpur Upazila

Muksudpur is an Upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh.Muksudpur is located at . It has 49,965 households and total area 309.63 km².-Demographics:...

. The village covers an area of 3.43 km², and is bordered by the villages of Nanikhir

Nanikhir

Nanikhir is a village in Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, part of Muksudpur Upazila. It is part of the Nanikhir union, which consists of the villages of Nanikhir, Baro Vatra, Mohishtoli, Pathorghata, Goalgram, Bongram and Kazipara, and which is bordered by the unions of Jalirpar, Kasalia, Mosna and...

, Nawkhanda

Nawkhanda

Nawkhanda is a village in Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, part of Muksudpur Upazila. The village covers an area of 3 km2, and is bordered by the villages of Nanikhir, Barovatra, Pathorgatha and Kasalia, Goinary. Nawkhanda's main canal is the Hatashe Channel, locally called Nawkhanda Khall or...

, Pathorgatha and Banagram. Baro Vatra's main canal is the Nawkhanda Khall or Nanikhir Khall. The Bil Rout Canal at Jalirpar

Jalirpar

Jalirpar is a Village and a Union too under Muksudpur Upazila, Gopalganj established in 1634.The Bil Rout Canal travels through the village of Jalirpar on its way to the Padma River....

 joins with the main canal, flowing into the river Padma.

Baro Vatra under Nanikhir

Nanikhir

Nanikhir is a village in Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, part of Muksudpur Upazila. It is part of the Nanikhir union, which consists of the villages of Nanikhir, Baro Vatra, Mohishtoli, Pathorghata, Goalgram, Bongram and Kazipara, and which is bordered by the unions of Jalirpar, Kasalia, Mosna and...

 Union parishad was established in 1634. The village consists of three wards and five mahallas. The village has a primary school, six mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

s, a madrasa, and three community schools. and a famous Kaliardah Bill. The village is also home to the Nanikhir Union health complex, a family planning

Family planning

Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...

 center, and a Nanikhir Government hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

.

Non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

s operating in Baro Vatra include BDAO (the Bangladesh Development Acceleration Organisation), BRAC

BRAC (NGO)

BRAC, based in Bangladesh, is the world's largest non-governmental development organization. Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC is present in all 64 districts of Bangladesh, with over 7 million microfinance group members, 37,500 non-formal...

, CCDB, ASA

Association for Social Advancement

The Association for Social Advancement ' is a non-governmental organization based in Bangladesh which provides microcredit financing. It was established in 1978 by Shafiqual Haque Choudhury and a team of people who were then working for other established NGOs but who themselves were arguing for...

, World Vision

World Vision

World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...

, and HCCB.

History

In May 1971, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i fighter planes attacked the village. with the help of a few Razakar

Razakar

Razakar is an Urdu word for volunteer and may historically refer to:*Razakars : Islamist East Pakistani militia that aided the Pakistan Army against the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War...

. Two residents were killed and a motor launch was damaged. On 9 August 1971, about 200 freedom fighters in collaboration with the local people liberated Muksudpur. On 12 October 1971 the freedom fighters battled the Pakistani army. In the battle, 22 members of the Pakistani army and Razakars

Razakars (Pakistan)

The Razakar was the paramilitary force organized by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.The Urdu word razakar literally means "volunteer". The Razakar force was composed of mostly pro-Pakistani Bengalis and Urdu-speaking migrants living in erstwhile East Pakistan...

 were killed. In another direct encounter near Diknagar bridge 30 members of the Pakistani army and three freedom fighters were killed.

Demographics

Baro Vatra has a population of 2500, 58.65% male and 47.35% female, and a population density of 728 per km². The literacy rate among the villagers is 87.80%.

The main occupations

Employment

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...

 of residents of Baro Vatra are: Agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 (43.09%), Agricultural labourer (23.45%), wage labor (2.21%), commerce

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 (10.10%), service (7.69%), fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 (1.71%), industry

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 (1.11%), hawking

Hawker (trade)

A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area...

 (2.32%), construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

 (1.39%), and 6.93% other.

Agriculture

The main crops grown in Baro Vatra are paddy

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

, wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, jute

Jute

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....

, sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

, onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

, garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...

, betel leaf, vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

s and sweet potato

Sweet potato

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

. Formerly, the village grew linseed, sesame, indigo, china, and kaun, but these are rarely grown anymore.

Baro Vatra also produces the fruits mango

Mango

The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...

, jackfruit

Jackfruit

The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family . It is native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh, . The jackfruit tree is believed to be indigenous to the southwestern rain forests of India...

, papaya

Papaya

The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...

, palm, guava

Guava

Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...

, lemon

Lemon

The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...

, litchi, coconut

Coconut

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...

, guava

Guava

Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...

, and banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

.

There are fisheries, hatcheries, poultry and dairy farms in Baro Vatra. Some fishermen depend on the waters of the Hatashe channel for their livelihood.