Goalandaghat or Goalanda গোয়ালন্দঘাট | |
|---|---|
.JPG) A view of Goalandaghat in Bangladesh | |
  Goalandaghat or Goalanda Location in Bangladesh | |
| Coordinates:23°44′N89°45.7′E / 23.733°N 89.7617°E /23.733; 89.7617 | |
| Country |  Bangladesh |
| Division | Dhaka Division |
| District | Rajbari District |
| Upazila | Goalandaghat Upazila |
| Area | |
• Total | 149.03 km2 (57.54 sq mi) |
| Population (1991) | |
• Total | 91,675 |
| • Density | 620/km2 (1,600/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+6 (BST) |
| Website | Official Map of Goalandaghat |
Goalundo Ghat (also spelledGoalanda andGoalondo;Bengali:গোয়ালন্দঘাট) is a small town andpourasabha inGoalandaghat Upazila,Rajbari District,Dhaka Division,Bangladesh. There are two railway stops in the town, 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]
TheEastern Bengal Railway opened the line fromKolkata to Goalundo, on the southern bank of thePadma in 1871.[3] TheBiswas Bari estate dominated the farmland around the river port. 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 toNarayanganj 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 atNarayanganj andChandpur, and with the steamer services toMadaripur,Barisal,Sylhet, andCachar. There are also daily services of steamers up thePadma to Digha Ghat,Patna in the dry season, andBuxar in the rains, and up the Brahmaputra toDibrugarh. 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, theEast 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.
Bus/road travel has since gained primary importance in Bangladesh. Most people use buses for travel from Dhaka and other places toBenapole and then cross over the border for links toKolkata.[7] For a long time road transport has been using the Daulatdia-Paturia ferry crossing nearby. The ferry also carries long-distance buses across thePadma.[8]
The Government of Bangladesh has invited in November 2011 international tenders for the construction of the 6.1 km long second bridge across thePadma connecting Paturia and Daulatdia on a public-private partnership basis at a cost of 2 billion dollars.[9]
