Krishi Market traders left clutching at straws

If you had visited the Krishi Market in the capital's Mohammadpur during the first half of yesterday, you might have noticed two young men trying to sell half-burnt soaps, packets of detergent and several containers containing cleaning agents on a rickshaw-van.

They were asking for prices well below the market rate in an effort to get some cash by selling the few burnt items they managed to recover from their shop, Satata Enterprise, which was among over 300 stores devastated by a fire on Thursday.

The blaze destroyed products worth almost Tk 80 lakh at the shop where the two young men worked. After recovering some items, they began selling salvaged goods in order to stand by their owner Mohammad Ibrahim.

"We have lost our sole source of income. The fire has taken everything away from us," said a broken Ibrahim. "It's just consolation for us. We don't know how we will survive now."

While Ibrahim and his colleagues made their efforts, owners of other shops were busy clearing ash and trying to recover half-burnt products ranging from clothes and groceries to home and personal care items, hoping to salvage whatever they could to reduce their losses.

No estimate of losses resulting from the blaze is available yet.

According to a guestimate by Matiur Rahman, general secretary of the market's shop owners' association, the fire caused a loss of around Tk 200 crore.

Matiur had two jewelleryshops and a grocery store at the market. They had been reduced to ashes, he said over phone.

Ibrahim added that the fire had also damaged one of his warehousesseriously.

Standing a short distance away, Mohammad Mahbub was selling five sacks of half-burnt rice while his brother, Mohammad Yamin, who is the owner of the rice shop, was busy cleaning his shop.

Mahbub said he was selling the half-burnt rice at only Tk 200 to Tk 300 per sack although the market price per sack of rice is around Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000.

"It's not suitable for human consumption. It can be used for poultry or fish farms," said Mahbub.

He added that Yameen had lost nearly Tk 15 lakh as almost 140-145 sacks of aromaticrice had been damaged.

However, some vegetable shops and rice traders set up shop with new products in their previous spots.

"I have lost everything. Taking a loan of Tk 10,000, I have just set up my shop today [Saturday]," said Shafiqul Islam, a vegetable trader.

"We still do not get any support, neither from the city corporation nor the market management," he said.

"If I do not continue my business, how will I survive," he added.

Most traders on the west side of the market, including those dealing in garments, shoes, plastic products and jewellery, were struggling to clear the debris from their shops.

The recently formed five-member probe body yesterday visited the market and spoke with victims, said Wahidul Haque, treasurer of the market's shop owners' association.

"We have demanded the city corporation to rehabilitate the victims as soon as possible," he said.

Iftearul Islam Muzib, an inspector of the Dhaka North City Corporation, said they started to clean up the debris since yesterday.

"We have been asked to take waste from outside of the market. Traders were requested to clean their own shops and bring any debris outside," he said.