সেন্ট মার্টিন’স দ্বীপ

Dhal Char is an island located at the south of Bhola District in Bangladesh. It is a Union under Monpura Thana of Bhola. Dal Char is surrounded by the river Meghna. The east part of the island is decreasing day by day because of river bank erosion. The island is marked as one of the most vulnerable areas for natural disaster. The population is approximately 13000 of which 5000 are floating people and 1500 are households.

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Dublar Char Island is renowned for catching and processing fish in our country. It is also famous for Rash Mela and holy bath, a Hindu festival that carries rituals since 200 years back. It is believed by Hindus that the Rash event is the 'get-together' of Radha and Lord Krishna. For celebrating this assemblage many people arrive here from different part of the country.

Tourists from both home and abroad find three-day long yearly ritual exciting. The Island has all the natural beauty of any other places of the world renowned Islands. River Passur flows on west side of the river while on the western side river Shibsha. In addition, this island is known for its beautiful views.

সুন্দরবনের বঙ্গোপসাগরমুখী দক্ষিন সীমান্তে দুবলার চর অবস্থিত। এছাড়া এই স্থানটি কটকার দক্ষিন-পশ্চিমে এবং নীলকমলের দক্ষিন-পূর্বে অবস্থিত। নয়নাভিরাম প্রাকৃতিক সৌন্দর্য ছাড়াও মাছ ধরা এবং শুটকি মাছ প্রক্রিয়াজাতকরনের জন্য দুবলার চরের খ্যাতি রয়েছে। এছাড়া প্রায় ২০০ বছর ধরে পালিত হয়ে আসা রাশমেলা এবং পুণ্যস্নানের জন্যও এই চরের রয়েছে বিশেষ পরিচিতি। হিন্দুরা বিশ্বাস করেন রাশ উৎসবে রাধা এবং দেবতা কৃষ্ণর পুনর্মিলন হয়ে থাকে। দেশের বিভিন্ন স্থান থেকে প্রচুর হিন্দু ধর্মের অবলম্বনকারীরা এই সমাবেশ উৎযাপনের জন্য এসে থাকেন। প্রতিবছর তিনদিনব্যাপী পালিত হওয়া এই ধর্মীয় আয়োজনটি দেশী বিদেশী পর্যটকদের কাছেও বেশ আকর্ষণীয় একটি ঘটনা।

বিশ্বের বিভিন্ন স্থানের নামকরা অন্যান্য স্থানের চাইতে এই চরের প্রাকৃতিক সৌন্দর্য কোন অংশে কম নয়। দুবলার চরের পশ্চিমে পশুর নদী এবং পশ্চিমে শিবসা নদী বয়ে গিয়েছে।

Kutubdia Island is famous for The Light-House and all other mysterious creation and divine beauty. It is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal. Though it is very small in size, it has the ability to lead all the huge land by its Natural Beauty. The Sea Beach is very attractive and is not less qualified than Cox's Bazar Sea Beach. The scenery of Sun-set and Sun-rise are obviously eye-catching for all the human beings. The way of producing salt is unimaginable. Kutubdia Sea Beach only has the lacking of advertisement and media coverage. Otherwise, it would be another attractive place for the Nature Lovers.

Administration Kutubdia Thana was established in 1917 and was turned into an Upazila in 1983. It consists of 6 union parishads, 9 mouzas and 29 villages. Archaeological heritage Marks of War of Liberation Memorial monument 1 (ghatkul). Population approximately 1,14,000; male 51.66%, female 48.34%; Muslim 91.27%, Hindu 8.65%, others 0.08%. Religious institutions Yusef Ali Miaji Masjid, Kalarma Masjid, Ek Hatia Fakirer Masjid, Maharaja Kazir Masjid, Tomb of Qutb Awliya. Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 23.85%; male 31.5%, female 16.2%. Educational institutions: college 1, government high school 1, non-government high school 7, madrasa 15, government primary school 32, non-government primary school 39. Old institutions: Kutubdia High School (1938), Durung High School (1948).

Cultural organizations: Public library 1, press club 1, sporting club 1, co-operative society 1.

Main occupations: Agriculture 32.13%, fishing 4.67%, agricultural laborers 23.99%, wage laborers 5.76%, commerce 11.88%, service 3.94%, industries 2.2%, others 15.43%.

Land use: Cultivable land 8903.28 hectares, land for cultivation of salt 1416 hectares, fallow land 242.82 hectares. The market value of the first grade land is Tk 9500 per 0.01 hectare.

Main crops: Paddy, potato, watermelon, ginger, tomato, bean, betel nut. Extinct and nearly extinct crop Kaun. Main fruits are Mango, banana, papaya, plum, coconut.

Farming: Shrimp cultivation in 115 hectares.

Communication facilities: Roads: pucca 147 km, mud road 44 km. Traditional transports are Horse carriage, bullock cart, palanquin. These means of transport are either extinct or nearly extinct.

Manufactures: Rice mill 2, salt mill 1, ice mill 1, and saw mill 4.

Cottage industries: Welding 15, bamboo work 300, goldsmith 18, blacksmith 20, tailoring 200.

Mineral resources: Natural gas, sulphur. Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars 12. Notable bazars are Bara Ghop Bazar, Dhurung Bazar. Main exports Fish, salt.

NGO activities: Operationally important NGOs are brac, Gana Swasthya Kendra, Prism Bangladesh, and IFAD Unnayan Sahajogi Team.

Health centers: Upazila health complex 1, satellite clinic 4, family planning centre 6.

Most Attractive: Sea Beach and Light House.

Windmill: Kutubdia has the only Windmill in Bangladesh named as "Hybrid Power Plant"

Initially Nijhum Dwip or Nijhum Island was known as Char Osman, after the name of a brave settler Osman who established the first settlement with his buffalo & cattle. Later the government's high officials have changed that name. But still in documents, the island is known as Char Osman. This island is an ideal place for tourists, especially during the winter.

A cluster of islands (mainly, Ballar Char, Kamlar Char, Char Osman and Char Muri) emerged in the early 1950s as an alluvium in the shallow estuary of the Bay of Bengal on the south of Noakhali. These new sandbanks first drew the notice of a group of fishermen, who named it Baular Char (literally, the alluvium of sand) later transformed into Ballar Char. Occupying an area of 14,050 acres the island situated between 21 0 1 / to 22 0 6 /north latitude and 90 0 3 / to 91 0 4 / east longitude.

Migratory Birds in Nijhum Dwip: During winter, thousands of migratory birds flock in to island. The fishermen use the airy and sunny land as an ideal place for drying their catches from the sea. Sometimes many of them also construct straw huts on the island as seasonal residences.

In 1974 the Forest Department took an afforestation program for a duration of twenty years in the north side of the island. Covering an area of nine thousand acres, it has now developed into a deep forest with a variety of plant species. Among the trees Keora is much seen. Besides this Gewa, Kankra, Bain, Babul, Karamja, Pashur and many other species are seen.

On 8 April 2001 the government declared the 40390 acres of forest of Jahajmara range including 9550 acres of forest land on Nijhum Dwip as a National Park for the protection and development of the biodiversity of the forest. But in practice, there a very lazy appearance of that declaration.

It was named 'Nijhum Dwip' by former Minister Amirul Islam Kalam in 1979 observing its isolation and mild nature.

The Opportunity of Deer watching if you stay at Nijhum Resort: At very early morning, a deer which was survived a flood in Nijhum resort area; comes at Nijhum resort everyday.You can feed it with your own hand.

নিঝুম দ্বীপে সর্বপ্রথম মহিষ ও গবাদিপশু নিয়ে বসতি স্থাপনকারী সাহসী জনৈক ওসমানের নামে এই দ্বীপের নাম ছিল চর ওসমান। পরবর্তীতে সরকারের উচ্চপদে আসীন কর্মকর্তারা এই দ্বীপের নাম পরিবর্তন করেন। তবে, এখনও নথিপত্রে নিঝুম দ্বীপ চর ওসমান নামেই পরিচিত।  পর্যটকদের বেড়ানোর জন্য (বিশেষ করে শীতকালে) এই দ্বীপটি একটি আদর্শ স্থান।