Karimganj Town
The administrative headquarter and main town of the district also bears the
same name, that is, Karimganj.
Location
Karimganj town is located on the northern fringe of the district adjoining
Bangladesh, by the river Kushiara.
Its distance from Guwahati - the state capital of Assam - is approximately
330 Kms by road and about 350 Kms by rail. Distance of other important
places are : Silchar - 55 Kms, Shillong - 220 Kms, Agartala - 250 Kms.
Communication
Karimganj town has communication links with both rail and road with the
rest of India. Karimganj town is a railway junction and meter gauge lines
connecting Tripura with Assam pass through this station. The most popular
mode of passenger transport, however, is by road. A good number of buses -
mostly night services - ply between Karimganj and Guwahati daily. Direct
long distance bus services are also available to Shillong, Agartala,
Aizawl and so on. Communication with Silchar, Badarpur, Patherkandi and
other nearby places is also mainly dependent on road transport, with services
by all sorts of light and heavy vehicles available a frequent intervals.
The nearest airport is Kumbhirgram (85 Kms.) near Silchar - the headquarter
of the adjacent district of Cachar.
Karimganj town is also an important river port and has seasonal cargo and
freight transport link with Kolkata through river ways via Bangladesh.
Geography
Flanked on two sides by the rivers Kushiara and Longai, Karimganj town is
located just on the Bangladesh border with the river Kushiara flowing in
between. One prominent feature of the place is a long and winding canal
called Noti Khal meandering across the town. Earlier, it used to
be a connecting river way between Kushiara and Longai facilitating river
communication and also balancing of water-levels between the two rivers.
Now, however, this canal has been blocked at several places through
embankments and land-fills to pave way for road transport and construction
works.
History
In 1878, the British administration designated Karimganj town as the
headquarters of the newly created sub-division of Karimganj under Sylhet
district. After independence in 1947, Karimganj town continued to be the
headquarter of a truncated Karimganj sub-division, now attached to the
Cachar district of Assam. In 1983 this town was re-designated as the
District headquarter of the newly upgraded Karimganj district.
Trade and Commerce
Karimganj town is an important centre of trade and commerce in the region.
Its river port, with elaborate infra-structures like cargo-terminal, jetty,
warehouses etc., is capable of handling large volumes of cargoes carried
by steamers plying through river ways via Bangladesh. Karimganj is also a
borders trade centre and import-export business worth crores of rupees
is carried out through the custom trade point at Kalibari Ghat in the
town.
Population and Demography
| Category | Total
|
| Population | 52613 |
| S.C. | 6938 |
| S.T. | 231 |
As per 2001 census, population of Karimganj town stands at 52613
covering a total of 9720 households. The details of 2001 census figures
for Karimganj town is given in the table: