The devastating blaze that ripped through the Gulshan-1 DNCC market has burned down nearly 300 shops and merchandises leaving business owners, many of them with no insurance, in doldrums.
The damage caused by the fire early morning on Saturday is estimated at more than Tk 1 billion.
Casualties were not reported as no one stayed inside the makeshift kitchen market, locked with collapsible gates with guards posted outside, but the fire which raged through for more than two hours destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds.
In January 2017, another massive fire tore through the same market, causing an estimated damage of Tk 5 billion to Tk 6 billion.
A little over after two years, at least 291 tin-shed shops in the kitchen market beside the DNCC (Dhaka North City Corporation) market in Gulshan 1 were completely gutted in a similar fire on Saturday.
Mohammad Hossain, owner of Hossain Baniyati store who has been running a grocery business in the market for 30 years, claimed that he had lost goods worth around Tk 200,000 in the fire.
“After the last fire, I managed to revive my business by selling my farmlands in the village and borrowing a large amount of money from relatives with interest,” he said.
“No bank wanted to lend me money. After the fire of 2017, many of the affected shop owners went to several insurance companies, but were rejected.”
Shirajul Islam, owner of two kitchenware shops, said: “I have suffered a loss of Tk 20 lakh this time. In 2017, it was Tk 7 million. Nonetheless, it is a hefty loss for me because, like many, I am still recovering from the previous loss.”
Shirajul said he had attempted to get insurance several times, but failed to do so due to a land dispute between Dhaka North City Corporation and the shop owners’ association in the market.
“Most of the traders have been unable to get insurance, just like me,” he added.
“The insurance companies refuse to provide us with the service due to the ownership dispute over the land where the market was built. We accepted the fact, but we did not know a fire will raze us again,” said Abu Taleb Babul, Joint Secretary, DNCC Kitchen Market Traders Association.
“The holy month of Ramadan is approaching and it is the time for our biggest sales, when we usually earn a minimum of Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 per day,” he added.
According to the traders’ association, 291 shops in the kitchen market were completely gutted in Saturday's fire. The blaze also partially damaged 37 other makeshift stalls of various items, including household goods, fruits, baby food, imported food products, clothing and crockery.
However, some 80 shops were unaffected as those were relocated to a temporary shed after the 2017 fire.