Shawdesh desk:

Another fire broke out on Saturday in Gulistan’s Barishal Plaza Shopping Mall near Bangabazar when a few traders affected by the April-4 devastating fire erected makeshift shops under the Mayor Hanif Flyover to resume their business.

The Saturday’s fire originated on the third floor of the shopping complex at 8:05am and was extinguished shortly afterwards, according to the Fire Service and Civil Defence.

‘Everything I had turned into ashes. I am the breadwinner for my family of six,’ said Md Bodrul Huda Hiron, owner of ‘Mayer Doa Fashion’ which was once located inside Bangabazar Shopping Complex.

‘I came here around 2:00am and struggled to secure a place.’

Md Biplab, who owned three shops in Bangabazar said, ‘I have already incurred a loss of nearly Tk 20 lakh. So far, I could sell only 15 pieces of clothing items and suffered a loss of Tk 30 per piece.’

All traders trying to make some sales ahead of Eid echoed the same as Biplab.

‘I had recently taken a loan of Tk 80 lakh from a bank and invested it in my business of belts and money bags that had all burnt out,’ Akram Ali said standing before his makeshift shop under the flyover beside the busy road.

‘We have heard that the mayor would build a 10-storey shopping complex, but the question is whether we will get a place there.’

The devastating fire broke out in Bangabazar around 6:00am on April 4 that spread to nearby areas gutting some 5,000 shops in eight markets and leaving thousands of traders destitute.

The traders demanded allocations of fund for them so they could resume business.

The Bangabazar Shop Owners’ Association was seen gathering information about ownership from retailers and shop owners.

Mohammad Hamim, a shop owner who was standing in a queue in order to submit necessary documents to prove his shop ownership, told New Age that the association asked them to submit ownership documents.

‘It is not clear to us what the association will do with these documents,’ said a frustrated Hamim.

Salman F Rahman, private industries and investment advisor to prime minister, said on April 6 that the Bangabazar traders could operate their business temporarily in the nearby area from Saturday.

Some 25-30 makeshift shops were noticed selling goods on the day that they managed to save before the devastating fire engulfed the entire market on April 4.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq said that the police were investigating whether the fire was the result of a conflict between traders centring construction of a multi-storey shopping complex.

There was a dispute among traders in Bangabazar over building a multi-storey shopping centre, according to the commissioner.

He added that the police were investigating why the attack was carried out on the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters soon after the fire broke out.

So far, 11 people have been arrested in this connection.