New Super Market fire: Eid aspirations hang in balance

As affected shop owners take stock of what is left following the fire which broke out at the New Super Market on Saturday, the question of how they will manage to clear salaries, bonuses, rents, and loan instalments clouds their Eid aspirations.

Anwar Hossain, trader of Fatema Pant House in New Super Market told The Business Standard, "We have had about Tk1.5 lakh in sales since Thursday. Part of my shop was burnt. We want it to be opened before Eid. We have a monthly expenditure. Besides, how will I give the salary and Eid bonus this month?"

Traders insist that seating arrangements be made so they can continue selling whatever wares they have left.

Aside from asking they be allowed to do business for the next few days, shopkeepers also demanded they be provided capital to set up the business.

Md Tushar Hossain of Shikdar Garments told TBS that Tk15,000-20,000 were sold every day. He said sales had been good since the 20th of Ramadan.

Although there was no fire in the shop, almost half of the goods were damaged due to the water used for dousing the fire.

Md Mohsin, another shop owner, said he had daily sales of more than Tk1.5 lakh in the Eid season. When the fire broke out, he had goods worth Tk15-16 lakh.

"Even if I am allowed to sit and conduct sales, I don't have any money to get new goods. I still have to pay around five instalments.

"I need about Tk3 lakh to pay salaries, bonuses, and rent on Eid. How will I pay my six employees now," he said.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers and city corporations were seen still busy cleaning the market on Sunday afternoon.

However, shopping malls and markets adjacent to the burnt market resumed business operations on Sunday, although the number of customers was relatively lower than usual.

The shops on the east side of the New Market-Mirpur road resumed business Saturday afternoon, whereas the New Market shops, after an announcement of indefinite closure, opened Sunday morning. 

Globe Shopping Center in the New Market area, the shopkeeper of the western zone Abul Kalam Azad told TBS, "Our businesses have also collapsed due to the fire at the New Super Market on Saturday. Except for Eid, there is no normal sale in the shop. I sold about Tk70,000 on Friday as well."

Abdul Momen of Export Collection, another shop in this market, told TBS, "We have opened the market since noon on Saturday, but there have been some sales in the evening." Sales are very low compared to the Eid market.

Harunor Rashid, a shopkeeper inside Newmarket, told TBS, "People still don't know that the market has reopened after being closed. Maybe because of this, their number is less now."

President of New Market Shop Owners Association Dewan Aminul Islam told TBS, after talking to DPDC, an electrical connection has been taken in the new market since 11am on Sunday. 

The massive fire at the New Super Market was completely doused on a Sunday morning.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence were able to extinguish the blaze that gutted at least 500 shops out of some 1,275 housed in a three-story market, at around 9am on Sunday.

Assistant Director of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence Md Akhtaruzzaman Liton said, "There is now no fire left inside the Dhaka New Super Market.

"We, following the primary investigation, think that the fire originated on the second floor and then spread to the third floor."

Some 32 people, including firefighters, fell sick from the heavy smoke while firefighters were trying to douse the blaze.

The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has formed a nine-member committee to investigate the New Super Market fire.

The committee has been asked to submit the report within three days, DSCC Public Relations Officer Md. Abu Nasher told The Business Standard.

The committee, headed by the DSCC Regional Executive Officer (Zone-1) Merina Naznin, will investigate the cause of the fire and assess the damages.