Population Distribution

According to 2001 population census the area of the Pourashava was 572.84 acre (excluding Extended area), and is 19418 with 10623 male and 8795 female. According to Sreemongal Pourashava its present population 23393 persons with 12798 male and 10596 female. And the physical feature survey shows the project area of Sreemongal Pourashava area is1226.05 acres along with 651.95 acres extended area. According to population census the male female ratio is 120: 100 (BBS, 2001).

Population Density

According to BBS 2001, the density of urban population of Sreemongal was 19418 persons per acre (34 persons per acre) with a decadal growth rate of 1.88%. As per the survey finding it is 23393 persons per acre within Sreemongal Pourashava in 2011. At present Ward no. 02 is the densely populated area. Its ppa is 133 ppa and the is the next highest density is 71 found at Ward no. 03.

Age-Sex Structure

The maximum percentage (24.65%) of the sample population falls within the 16-25 age group of which almost 21.57% of male population and rest 28.36% of female. The lowest percentage of population falls within 56-65 and 65⁺ age group.

Household Size

Average household size of the project area is about 5.37 and is more than the national average of about 4.5. It reflects that national population control program has less impact in this area. The household sizes in the area range from a low of 1 to a high of 10 and above. The household size range 4-5 is found to be larger among the households taken for interview. This household size occupies almost 47% among the total households followed by more than 26% of 6-7 numbers of family members. 9 percent of the households have 8-9 family members. More than 6 percent has family size above 10.

Marital Status

Socio economic survey shows that the percentage of married population is more than fifty percent, though it varies in cases of male and female population. About 4 percent of female population are widow or divorced. There are no male people in these groups. It represents the social vulnerability of women folk.

Growth Rate

The annual population growth rate of the Pourashava is 1.88 (BBS, 2001). It is higher than the national growth rate (1.54%).

Migration Pattern

According to the household survey almost half of the respondents are living here from the birth. Again 32 percent respondents live Sreemongal more than 20 years and about 12 percent respondents live here from 11 to 20 years.

Education Status

About 7 percent of the total population is illiterate according to the socio-economic survey finding. Of them more than 5 percent of the male population has no education where as female percentage is 8.69percent. 26 percent of surveyed population of Sreemongal Pourashava has only primary level of education. 7.66 percent of population has educational background up to degree level. More than 2 percent of respondents in Sreemongal are Master degree holder. 0.63 percent of the surveyed population falls in the category of Doctor/engineer/Advocate group. Only one has technical education.

Religion

Religious composition of the study area population has various implications for area planning and overall welfare of the study area population. Almost 75 percent people of the study area belongs to the Muslim community, the remaining others are Hindus. There is no other religious community within Sreemongal Pourashava.

Occupational Status

Occupational status of the household is highly relevant for assessing the socio-economic status of the families. This has a relationship with income, employment and poverty of the population.

Primary Occupation

Occupational status of the household is highly relevant for assessing the socio-economic status of the families. This has a great impact on employment and poverty reduction. Some households have morethan one occupation. About 50 percent of the total surveyed population are engage in different sort of employment. Business is the main source of employment. 18 percent are doing business. 4.36 percent is deployed ingovernment/autonomous organizations, of them 12 are female. A negligible percentage of female population is employed in private company. A small percentage of both male and female are engaged in NGOs. Both landlord and landless farmers are only 1 in number. 9.58 percent of the working force is unemployed. Of the total surveyed population, 28 percent is student and female out numbered its opposite sex.

Secondary Occupation

Very nominal number of respondents has other type of engagement as secondary occupation. Of the total active working force only 9 have extra occupation. They are mostly engaged in business and NGO sector.

Income and Expenditure of the Households

Monthly income and expenditure of the households indicate socio-economic status of people living in an area. This also allows determination of the household saving rate. Here income means earning in monetary terms of a household for a month from all sources, such as production, property, salary and business and expenditure means amount of money that a household spends for all types of consumption.

Percentage Distribution of the Household by Monthly Income and Expenditure at Sreemongal Pourashava

  Source: Socio-economic Survey (UTIDP), 2009

Income level

Maximum number of household (about 16.75%) earned Tk.8001-Tk.10000/month. Almost similar percentage of families earning level is between Tk.15001-Tk.20000/month. Total 11 percent of family has earning level of Tk. 20000-Tk.50000/month. There are 3 families in Sreemongal whose earnings are more than Tk. 1,00,0000. Distribution of households based on income level is given in t6he above Table.

Expenditure level

It is extremely difficult to ascertain the actual expenditure of families and also it is difficult to find the real income of a family. An attempt was made in the questionnaire to have an idea about the level of expenditure of the respondent families.The expenditure pattern of the households in the Pourashava indicate that more than 14 percent spends Tk. 6001-Tk.8000 as monthly expenditure, whereas more than 14 percent of the families spend money within Tk. 15001-Tk.20000/ month. It is the general theory that the propensity to consume is greater among the poor. And same is the case in Sreemangal.

Identification of Problems Concerning Socio-Economic Condition

The age distribution of population selected for socio-economic study in the project area. The maximum percentage (24.65%) of the sample population falls within the 16-25 age group of which almost 21.57% of male population and rest 28.36% of female. The lowest percentage of population falls within 56-65 and 65+ age groups.

Total 7 percent of the total population is illiterate according to the socio-economic survey finding. Of them more than 5 percent of the male population has no education where as female percentage is 8.69 percent. Almost 26 percent of surveyed population of Sreemongal Pourashava has only primary level of education. Only 7.66 percent of population has educational background up to degree level. More than 2 percent of respondents in Sreemongal have postgraduate degrees. Only 0.63 percent of the surveyed population falls in the category of Doctor/engineer/Advocate group.

About 50 percent of the total surveyed population are engage in different sort of employment. Business is the main source of employment. Total 18 percent are doing business. A negligible percentage of female population is employed in private company. A small percentage of both male and female are engaged in NGOs. Both landlord and landless farmers are only 1 in number. Total 9.58 percent of the working force is unemployed.

Household perception shows, flooding of roads during monsoon, narrow width of roads and poor maintenance are the major road problems in the town. About 74% of the households reported having pucca roads in front of their houses. However, only 17% of the respondents agree to contribute land towards road widening. About 40 percent have semi pucca drain along their house.Almost 17 percent has katcha drain and 10 percent households have no drainage facility.

The value of land varies across different wards of the Pourashava. The value of lands is very high in some wards than others. The highest residential land value at Sreemongal Pourashava is found in Ward no. 09. Here per decimal average land value is Tk.422222 and the lowest land value per decimal was found in Ward no. 04 (Tk. 174000/ decimal).

At present, not many environmental problems are observed, but there are threats for earthquakes because of the geology of the region and vulnerabilities for annual flush floods including water logging. Only 21 percent respondents said that they have environmental problem at Sreemongal Pourashava.

Identification of Prospect Concerning Socio-Economic Condition

The socio-economic findings point out a number of urban problems identified by the respondents that call for taking measures to resolve them. Measures are needed to prevent and resolve drainage problems of the town with urgency. Steps are also necessary to provide piped water to the citizens as a basic urban service. Management of solid waste must be given importance as it will take precarious turn with increasing urbanization. Attention has to be given in the proposed plan to keep provision for wider roads, as the narrow roads have been found problematic for traffic movement. Terminal facilities for different modes of transport have to be considered in the master plan in order to maintain traffic order and avoid traffic conflicts in the future. The land levels of the Pourashava and availability of the vacant lands will help better distribution of land uses.

An Overview of Population Projection

In absence of data for previous census years for Pourashava, it has been difficult task to collect information on population. The details of the estimation of population is made has been discussed below.

Basis of Population Projection Method

Perhaps no single factor is more important for planning than the size and composition of population and the way it will change in the future. Estimating future population for a specific period for a particular area is one of the most difficult tasks in the planning process. For Bangladesh, population projection is a very difficult task as the required data are not available for particular area and same is the case for Sreemongal Pourashava.

On the other hand, the difference of data from different secondary sources also makes the job more problematic. The population figures collected from secondary sources especially for Pourashava were very much ambiguous. So for the final projection, several discussions were made with experts and BBS officials. Following the annual growth rate for the study area available from the 2001 Population Census, the projection up to the year 2031 with five years interval has been made.

To calculate the future population of the area, the following formula is used.

Pn = Po (1+ r)t where,

Po = the base year,

Pn = the projected year,

t = time period,

r = annual growth rate.

Assumptions

The basic objective of the study is to estimate the population of the Pourashava for the year 2011, which would be the base year population. First using the base year population, a projection of the study area population at five yearly intervals up to 2031 is made on the basis of some assumptions. In general, the projection is made on the basis of trends in population growth observed in the past, and looking ahead the development prospects in future.

The important issues to be considered are;

- The natural growth;

- Composition of the population, particularly the age breaks;

-  Net migration;

- The annexation of new areas with the existing town.

Projected Population by Mouza/Ward

On the basis of the above formula, ward wise population of Sreemongal Pourashava has been estimated up to the year 2031 with a five year interval. As the data are available from 2001 so it has been taken as base year.