Bangabazar traders hope to resume sales Wednesday

Preparations are underway in full swing at the Bangabazar market to allow traders affected by the devastating fire to resume business ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr – the largest festival of Muslim community.

Traders hope that they will be able to resume sales operations from Wednesday.

The Dhaka South City Corporation is placing sand and bricks across 1.79 acres of land of the burnt Bangabazar market area so that businesses can set up makeshift stalls there.

Bangabazar Complex Shop Owners Association Secretary Jahirul Islam said a total of 2,961 traders have been affected by the fire. No stores were unscathed, and nothing remains of the ground, second, and third floors.

He added, “We want to start Eid sales tomorrow (Wednesday). That is why we will temporarily run business on the makeshift shops.

“We want to give importance to traders rather than the owners. Those who used to sell goods here are the most affected. They invested here using borrowed money and lost everything in the fire.”

Stating that more than Tk 2 crore has arrived as donations and aid so far, Jahirul said the issue of rehabilitation and grant to the victims will be coordinated at a later time.

A devastating fire broke out at Bangabazar Complex around 6 am on April 4, and quickly spread to the nearby other markets. It took the Fire Service around 75 hours to douse the flames completely.

The shopkeepers claimed that around 5,000 traders lost everything in the blaze and the financial total loss would be more than Tk 1,000 crore.