Shopping in these key areas a horrible experience for many

Shopping in the capital's key areas like Malibagh, Mouchak, Moghbazar and Shantinagar has become a horrible experience for many as the construction of Moghbazar-Mouchak Flyover is going on at a snail's pace, shoppers and shop owners said.
The haphazard stockpiling of construction materials on the roads connecting those shopping zones has caused severe air and sound pollution, driving out the potential buyers to other areas during the peak time.
When the traders at the other parts of the city are passing the busiest time ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the sellers are not getting even their regular customers at Mouchak, Anarkoli, Fortune Shopping Mall, Lily Plaza, Mejhbah Uddin Plaza, Twin Tower Concord, Tropical Razia, Karnaphuli Garden City.
The traders said roads being rough and polluted by dust, people hardly enter these markets for shopping. So they have lost their festival sales this year.
They urged the authorities concerned to complete the flyover as early as possible as they won't be able to do business until the construction work is finished.
The shop owners also blamed the improper sewerage system and low-land street which is creating water-logging in front of their shops.
As it is the rainy season many times the roads remain flooded with water. People frequently face accidents. So customers have lost interest to come for shopping in this area, said Kamal Uddin, a salesman at a shop of Mouchak Market.
Manik Sarkar, branch manager of Pride at Mouchak Market, said his business has been hampered seriously following infrastructure problem. Traffic jam, dust and water-logging are the regular nuisance in front of the market.
People cannot enter the market easily due to construction work. It is difficult to travel to this area from other parts of the city. So the number of shoppers has gone down drastically.  
"I have been given the sale target of Tk 6.0 million, but up until now I have achieved only Tk 1.0 million this Eid season," Mr Sarkar said.
It was quite easy to reach the target three years back, he said.
"We displayed exclusive collections to tap the potential of the season, but there are a very few customers," he added.
A salesman of Icon Saree House at the same market said they have lost customers from other parts of the city due to hassles in journey to the area.
Only shoppers close to the market come for shopping here. "We are not getting our targeted customers as now the area is isolated from other parts of the city, he said.
Owner of Mohammadia Bastraloy at Anarkoli Market said his sales have come down to Tk 70,000 a day from Tk 150,000 compared to that of two years back.
As the adjacent roads are being dug for building the flyover, on most occasions those remain face acute traffic jam, he said.  
Ismot Ara, owner of Esha Fshion at Fortune Shopping Mall, also expressed the same opinion saying her sales declined nearly 65 per cent between April and July.
Owners of World Colour and Janata Jewellers said nearly 50 per cent of their sales have dropped because of the problem.
Traders at the Twin Towers and Karnaphuli Garden City expressed their frustration saying they are not having festival business.
Not only the traders of this area but also those at Rampura, Moghbazar also experience lower.
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