In the face of opposition from traders, the Dahaka North City Corporation (DNCC)-led drive under a magistrate to seal off the dilapidated and risky kitchen market at Kawran Bazar had to be postponed on Thursday last. In order to avoid an untoward incident, the eviction team left but not before informing the market committee of its decision to come back once again on May 25 to carry out the eviction drive and seal off the market. But this is not the first such ultimatum. The magistrate told early last month the traders were given two weeks' time to vacate the place but did not pay heed to the instruction.
The Fire Service and Civil Defence has found 58 markets and shopping malls to be at risk --- nine of them at high risk and 14 at moderate risk. But these are constructions that primarily run the risk of catching fire. Kawran Bazar run the double risk of both collapsing and catching fire. As early as 2010, the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) declared it hazardous and in 2019 the divisional commissioner also found it so and recommended vacating before demolition of the structure.
About four years have passed since then and still traders are running their business there. One wonders if the urgency now shown by the authorities would have been there if three catastrophic blast and fires had not devastated markets and mall on Elephant Road near the Science Laboratory, at Siddique bazar and Banga bazar. But now that the authorities have become active to take the required steps, the traders are not only unwilling to cooperate but also defying the order to vacate the place.
This is unfortunate. Admittedly, traders carrying out business for long in certain cases for generation have a huge stake here. But if life is under serious threat, there is no option other than leaving the place for safety. The magistrate who headed the eviction drive is on record, saying that a market in its final stage of construction at Jatrabari is meant for their relocation. This once again reminds one of the relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar. Without completing the facilities including the central effluent treatment plant (CETP), an impression was given that the owners of tanneries were to blame for not moving to the new location. After so many years, why is the market at Jatrabari yet to be ready to welcome traders from Kawran Bazar?
The traders have rightly asked for full resettlement and shop allocation. This is the minimum they deserve. Kawran Bazar is a prime location. A move to a new place is not always propitious for business for several reasons. But if they are not assured of allocation of shops to their names at the new site right at the beginning, they are sure to feel insecure. In this country there is always many a slip between cup and lip.
These are in fact the symptoms of underdevelopment. The approach is half-hearted and at times it is like putting the cart before the horse. True, the worn-out building of the kitchen market at Kawran can collapse any time; it could do so even earlier. So the plan of eviction and relocation had to be carried out years ago. If that had not happened, reason dictates that the relocation has to be without hassle. To do so the part of the job the authorities were in charge had to be completed before initiating the move to evict the traders from their present location. Again, the question of the place's future use is an important issue. If the market is permanently shifted from there, no question of the traders' return arises. If a fresh trading centre is built at the place, the evicted traders should be given the priority for doing business there.
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