Much-talked-about relocation of the wholesale kitchen market at Karwan Bazar in the capital now hangs in the balance as traders are unwilling to move citing the reason that they were forced to agree to the process during the tenure of the previous government.
They also observed that a vested quarter had tried to evacuate them and grab the high-priced land in the heart of the city, showing excuse of the unsafe condition of the market building and traffic jams caused by the transport movement involving the important trading hub.
The authorities of the market- the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC)- announced that the shops and Arot- a traditional name for wholesale point of essentials-- at the market would gradually to be relocated to Jatrabari and Gabtoli after Eid-ul-Fitr, which fell in April this year.
Even the DNCC Zone-5 office was shifted from the first floor of the Karwan Bazar Arot Bhaban Market declaring the building as a risky one.
During several recent visits to the market, it was found that regular business activities were going on there.
It was seen that several iron-poles were placed in the ground floor to support the building structure.
"I don't know whether it is risky or not, but I have been trading at different shops of this building for the last 10 years," said a wholesale trader named Kiron Mia.
Authorities should repair the market building if they consider it a risky one, but should not force traders to move, he said, adding that the issue of relocation came to the fore several times.
The DNCC took initiative in 2020 to declare four buildings of Kawran Bazar wholesale market abandoned, including the Arot Bhaban .
Earlier, a team of civil engineering experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) inspected the 1 No Bhaban Market in 2013.
According to their brief report, some basic information of the building's construction was not available with the DNCC.
"From visual observation, the dimensions of columns and beams appear to be undersized for this structure," the report reads.
The experts recommended that the DNCC should conduct a comprehensive study on achievable service life through the retrofitting schemes and their respective costs with demolishing and reconstructing the entire facility.
"If the latter option proves to be economical as well as beneficial to the shop owners and general users, it is our recommendation that the DNCC should go for demolishing the facilities for rebuilding to harness all the benefits in the long term," reads the report.
Contacted, a professor of BUET, Dr Syed Ishtiaq Ahmad, told the FE that no development works of the buildings were done as per their recommendations.
"Those are in a dilapidated condition, which may have deteriorated further by this time," he said.
An Arot owner said 63 of the allottees at Arot Bhaban ground floor were told to shift to Jatrabari, which, he said, lacks proper facilities.
"There are spaces for 38 wholesale points which means the remaining 25 would be there without place or trade in open space," he said.
When his attention was drawn to the dilapidated condition of the building, he said that the authorities should take measures for repair of the building not try to evict them.
"You see it's not merely our living, even many lower and middle class households depend on Kawran Bazar market," he said.
According to data available with the DNCC, some 1,785 shops are housed in the four buildings owned by it.
The DNCC stopped revenue collection from the allottees since the decision was made to relocate them.
However, owners have already requested the DNCC to resume doing so.
The last meeting held in June, followed by the countrywide uprising which toppled the Awami League government.
Contacted, Karwan Bazar Arat Business Multipurpose Cooperative Society Secretary General Saifur Rahman Chowdhury said a nexus of some conglomerates and their accomplices has been instrumental to forcibly oust the traders from Karwan Bazar.
"There has been no discussion regarding the issue since August , whereas the decision itself was a baseless," he said, adding that a syndicate including some oligarchs close to the past government is active to destroy the business in Krwran Bazar.
He also said the authorities should reconsider the livelihood of several thousand people centring round Kawran Bazar.
DNCC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mir Khairul Alam said the issue of market relocation remains pending because of the regime changeover.
"Traders told us that they were forced in a situation where there was no scope to raise their voice to defy the decision," he said.
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