After a devastating fire literally reduced the Bangabazar market in the capital, arguably the country’s biggest hub of readymade garment businesses, to ashes on Tuesday morning, the livelihood of thousands of traders and workers just evaporated ahead of the biggest Muslim religious festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.

The fire that orginated at Bangabazar also spread to adjacent Banga Islamia Super Market, Mohanagar Shopping Complex, Annexco Tower Shopping Complex, Homeo Market and Gulistan Market.

Many of the victim traders said that they had lost everything as they had invested as huge money as possible for them targeting the Eid business.

While most of the businesses in the adjacent markets tried to save their merchandise with some of them succeeding, almost none in the Bangabazar market could save their’s.

Several traders estimated that they had incurred losses to the tune of several thousand crore takas in the blaze while The Bangladesh Shop Owners Association demanded Tk 700 crore from the government initially to cope with the losses.

Md Parvej Bhuiyan, an owner of six shops, two of them selling saris and the four others readymade garments, was found lying like a lifeless man on the road island near the market.

‘I have been doing business at the market for 22 years. I have lost everything, as all of my six shops were totally gutted. All the goods in the shops were burnt into ashes. My losses amount to several crore takas,’ he told New Age while uncontrollably crying in a loud voice.

He urged the prime minister to give them compensation for rehabilitation and resuming business at the place.

According to the Dhaka South City Corporation, under the jurisdiction of which the Bangabazar market falls, there were 2,931 shops at the market alone.

The DSCC took an initiative to build a 10-storey building in the market area in 2019 but could not implement the project due to a High Court stay on the construction following a writ petition.

Witnesses and traders said that all shops at the Bangabazar market were gutted in the deadly fire and flame.

Md Mohiuddin, a trader at the market, said, ‘My two shops were totally gutted. I came to know about the fire at about 7:00am and rushed here from Mirpur by a motorbike. When I reached here all my goods had turned into ashes.’

He said that his losses would come in the neighbourhood of Tk 85 lakh.

‘I have taken loans from my near and dear ones, targeting the Eid business,’ he said.

Md Jahangir, the owner of Hashu Saris, was found crying sitting adjacent to the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall of Dhaka University.

He said, ‘I had a shop named Hasu Saris at Bangabazar and the shop has become ashes. I have incurred a loss to the tune of about Tk 30 lakh. I took a Tk 8 lakh bank loan for the Eid business.’

He said that he was at a loss as to what to do now and in the days to come.

Md Mahbub, the owner of Junayed Garments at Banga Islamia Super Market, said that the fire spread to their market from burning garments at Bangabazar.

‘I could save about one-third of my shop’s items. When the fire was expanding, I had to flee my shop leaving my products there to save my life,’ he said in disappointment.

DSCC mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh told reporters that they had declared in 2019 the market risky.

‘When we took an initiative to construct a new market at Bangabazar in 2019, the High Court issued a stay order against our move following a writ petition filed by Bangabazar Traders Samity,’ Taposh said while briefing journalists after holding a meeting with the State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md Enamur Rahman at the Nagar Bhaban in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon.

He also said that they had served notice on the market committee on 10 occasions.

Md Enamur Rahman said that about 5,000 small shops in six markets were totally destroyed in the fire.

DSCC spokesperson and public relations officer also told New Age that the city authority had initiated constructing a 10-storey building having modern facilities at the Bangabazar market in 2019.

The Bangladesh Shop Owners Association on Tuesday urged the government to allocate Tk 700 crore initially for the small traders of the Bangabazar markets to recoup their losses caused by the massive fire that burnt the market to ashes, united News of Bangladesh reported.

After visiting the burnt markets, president of the association Helal Uddin told reporters that around 5,000 shops, mostly owned by small traders, were destroyed and damaged in the fire, adding that goods worth more than Tk 2,500 crore were gutted.