Rangpur

by Rasaf Ibrahim on Sep 07, 2021

Rangpur is one of the major cities in Bangladesh and Rangpur Division. Rangpur was declared a district headquarters on December 16, 1769, and established as a municipality in 1869, making it one of the oldest municipalities in Bangladesh. The municipal office building was erected in 1892 under the precedence Raja Janaki Ballav, Senior Chairman of the municipality. In 1890, the Shyamasundari canal was excavated for the improvement of the town. Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu was first mayor of Rangpur City Corporation.

The city is located in the northwestern part of Bangladesh. Begum Rokeya University is situated in the southern part of the city. Previously, Rangpur was the headquarters of the Greater Rangpur district. Later, the Greater Rangpur district was broken down into the Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Rangpur districts. In the greater Rangpur region, little economic development took place until the 1990s, mainly because of the yearly flooding the region used to see before the building of the Teesta Barrage. Coal is found near this district. There is a large military cantonment in the vicinity of the city, along with a Ghagot park (under military surveillance), in addition to the famous Carmichael College and Rangpur Zoo in the city. Rangpur is also famous for its handicrafts industry like Shataranji which is recently declared as a GI product of Bangladesh.

Economy

The city is the commercial hub. Its center has several government offices and private banks, insurance companies, residential hotels, and international restaurants, such as Chinese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, convenience food, and gift shops. It is one of the most important economic zones in Bangladesh because of its global positioning. Rangpur is one of the major Tobacco producing region in Bangladesh. The northern suburbs of Rangpur homes to tobacco companies like British American Tobacco, Akij Group, Abul Khair Group

Transportation

Rangpur is well connected by highways to Chittagong and Dhaka, as well as other parts of Rangpur. It takes about 6 to 7 hours by road to reach the capital Dhaka by National Highway 5. Bus services to other major districts are also available from Rangpur. Highway links to India have been established through the Asian Highway 2. Rangpur also has a BRTC Double Decker bus service, which connects the suburbs of the city to city center.

The Rangpur Railway Station is the main railway station providing trains on national routes operated by the state-run Bangladesh Railway. The Rangpur Express is a Bangladeshi Intercity train which runs between Rangpur and Dhaka. Other trains running between Rangpur and Dhaka are, Kurigram Express and Lalmoni Express.

The city of Rangpur is served by Saidpur Airport, located at the north of the city. Saidpur airport is a domestic airport. Saidpur Airport is connected through several private airlines such as Novoair, US-Bangla Airlines, Regent Airways & Biman Bangladesh Airlines a government airline with Capital city of Bangladesh Dhaka. A massive renovation work is going on at Saidpur Airport ahead of its planning to become the new International Airport for Northern Bangladesh region.