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Traders start leaving Karwan Bazar

Kitchen, wholesale and other markets to count loss of crores of taka as they will have to keep their shutters down for four days because of Saarc Summit

IMRUL HASAN
Most traders in the city's busiest kitchen and wholesale markets at Karwan Bazar have already stopped their business and started leaving the city as the authorities ordered a four-day shutdown of the markets from tomorrow for the security of the Saarc Summit.
“As we will have no business from November 10 to 13, majority of the wholesalers have already started leaving the city,” said Abul Khayer Bhuiyan, chairman of Karwan Bazar based Adarsha Fruit Sellers' Association.
Sources said the traders and labourers will have to face severe problem during the shutdown that will stop their daily earning.
Besides the kitchen market, there are the biggest wholesale fish and vegetable markets in Karwan Bazar. There are also separate markets for rice, cloths, electronic goods, wood, hardware, household appliances and poultry.
Sources in different trade associations based in Karwan Bazar said the wholesale markets see a daily business of around Tk 600 crore.
About 5,000 labourers and rickshaw-van drivers work in Karwan Bazar market, each of them earns Tk 150 to Tk 200 a day. “We will have no work for those four days,” said Md Ali, a rickshawvan driver.
“The closure of the market will spell a disaster for my family,” said Shamsul Islam, a labourer who has to maintain a five-member family.
Ismail Ali Wahab, organising secretary of Karwan Bazar DIT
Market Businessmen Welfare Association, said, “The government has not yet made any alternative arrangement for us to continue our business during the shutdown.”
The traders said the market's closure will severely affect middle and low-income groups and restaurant owners who regularly buy
groceries from this market.
“If this market remains closed for even a day, we will have to buy fish, vegetables and spices from other markets at higher prices,” said a vegetable seller at Rampura kitchen market who always buy commodities from Karwan Bazar.
Kazi Faruk, general secretary of the Consumers' Association of Bangladesh, said the shutdown of Karwan Bazar will certainly affect consumers. Prices of vegetables and other commodities will increase.
But a high official of the revenue department of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) said the closure will not have much of an impact. “It will not really affect businesses or consumers much.”
When asked about the traders' loss, Mizanur Rahman, the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said, “All of us should sacrifice for the sake of the security and the greater interest of the country.”
“Retailers of the city should buy and store essential things before 10th of November,” he added.
The Karwan Bazar based traders association sources said they will count a loss of more than Tk 100 crore each day during the closure.
At present, there are 22 markets and 61 traders' associations in Karwan Bazar wholesale market. The daily business transaction of each of these associations ranges from Tk 5 lakh to Tk 50 lakh.
On October 18, the home ministry decided to shut down Karwan Bazar from November 10 to13 for the security of the November 12-13 summit.