Joypurhat Sugar Mill is the largest government-owned
sugar mill
A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw sugar or plantation white sugar. Some sugar mills are situated next to a back-end refinery, that turns raw sugar into (refined) white sugar.
The term is also used to refer ...
factory in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
.
It is located in the north-western
Joypurhat
Joypurhat is a city in northwestern Bangladesh, near the border with India. It is the headquarters of Joypurhat District. One of the largest sugermill in Bangladesh, known as Joypurhat Sugarmills Limited and Bangladesh's only mineral and metallur ...
district in
Rajshahi
Rajshahi (, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city and a major Urban area, urban, administrative, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous Rajshahi Division, division and Rajshahi Distr ...
division. It has the capability of crushing 14,000 metric tons of
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
daily.
History
Joypurhat Sugar Mill was established in 1963 on 100 acres in Joypurhat town.
During the
Bangladesh Liberation war
The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...
, the mill was used by
Pakistan army
The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...
as a base. The military set up a court and tried prisoners held there. The prisoners were sentenced to death and executed in the mill. The factory is the largest government-owned sugar mill in Bangladesh.
Since 1990 the mill has been experiencing losses. The workers in the mill are represented by Joypurhat Sugar Mill Workers Union.
In March 2015 sugar farmers and suppliers protested the non-payment of dues by the mill. The mill blamed it on poor sales and overstocking of sugar.
Pollution
In March 2015, environmentalists accused the factory of polluting the Chhoto Jamuna River and killing thousands of fish in the river.
Thousands of people near the plant have fallen sick from water that was contaminated by factory waste. The factory does not have a treatment plant for effluents.
References
Further reading
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Buildings and structures in Rajshahi Division
1963 establishments in East Pakistan
Sugar mills in Bangladesh
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