Rehabilitate us

Having lost almost everything in Tuesday's devastating inferno, more than 300 businessmen of the DCC Market at Gulshan-1 demanded that the government rehabilitate them at the soonest.

The Dhaka North City Corporation, owner of the market, should act fast so they can get back their possessions, they said.

“We hope the government and the city corporation would take necessary steps so that we can resume our business and restart our life,” said Sher Mohammad, chairman of the DCC Kancha Market Businessmen's Association.

For now, the affected businessmen plan to set up makeshift shops on the open space in front of the market.

"We are going to measure the open space, including the car park, tonight [last night] for allotment to make sure that the businesses can open within two to three days," Sher Mohammad told The Daily Star yesterday.

The kitchen market traders will set up shops on the lane behind the market building.

The market housed 543 shops, including those of kitchen and household items, furniture, clothes, electronic appliances, shoes and bakery. Although some shop owners managed to save some items, owners of 309 shops at the collapsed portion known as DCC “Kancha Market” could not.

Contacted, DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq said rebuilding the market would take time, as much of the two-storey building was reduced to rubble in the fire.

“We cannot say anything right now as to how long it would take,” he added.

On the businessmen's plan to set up makeshift shops, Annisul said the traders had no rights to do that. “We are the legal authority and the city corporation will decide where to rehabilitate them.”

He also partly blamed the businessmen for the collapse.

The now-defunct Dhaka City Corporation declared the market risky in 2009. But the businessmen ignored the warning and constructed another floor on the original one-storey building, he said. 

“We also found some gas cylinders and welding cylinders inside the market,” he added, hinting that those may have caused the fire to spread quickly.

But Sher Mohammad said, “If the building were indeed risky, its electric and gas lines should have been disconnected. Instead of doing so, the city corporation in 2015 increased the tax for the shops from Tk 3 to Tk 13 per square foot per year."

The cause of the fire, which swept through the market for about 16 hours since around 2:00am on Tuesday, is yet to be determined, but businessmen suspect it was a sabotage to drive them out of the market by some vested quarters. 

A security guard, however, told The Daily Star that the fire broke out after an explosion of a transformer just a few feet from the building.

No one was killed or injured in the blaze but over 300 shops were gutted, causing an estimated loss of several hundred crores of taka.

Around 8:00pm yesterday, firefighters were still working at the scene as smokes spiralled out of the collapsed portion of the building. They made small holes on the wall to douse water on the smoke.

"It may take us two to three more days to clear the rubble," said Lt Col M Mosharraf Hossain, director (training) of Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Mosharraf, also chief of a seven-member committee probing the fire incident, said they already started working to determine the cause of the blaze.

Md Akhtaruzzaman, joint secretary of the Paka Market Businessmen's Association, said as the structure in that portion remained largely unaffected, they would open their shops in a day or two.

Awami League General Secretary and Roads and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader visited the market yesterday and assured the businesspersons of compensation and rehabilitation.