Khatunganj traders fear Tk50cr damage from Sitrang
In the port city of Chattogram, traders in the greater Khatunganj area, spanning Chaktai and Asadganj – one of the largest hubs for consumer goods in the country – fear damage amounting to Tk50 crore from the cyclonic storm Sitrang.
Most of the low-lying areas in the commercial capital were inundated on Monday night and products at most stores at the wholesale market were damaged by sudden tidal water caused by the cyclone.
On Tuesday morning, Bacha Mia Traders at Hamidullah Market in Khatunganj was seen inundated. Between 200 and 300 sacks under each pile of onion, garlic and ginger sacks at the shop were soaked in water.
Md Idris, the proprietor of the wholesale store, said from 10:30pm, the tidal water entered and hundreds of sacks of goods in the shop got wet.
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"As perishable products, these will spoil very quickly. There is a possibility of a loss of at least Tk5-7 lakh," he told The Business Standard.
Bacha Mia Trading is not alone. Water entered every shop and warehouse at Hamidullah Market and its nearby areas on Monday night. Some sacks at the bottom of each row of stacked products in every store got wet.
Jamal Hossain, organising secretary of the Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, said most of the shops and warehouses in the market have suffered losses of at least Tk50,000 to Tk8-10 lakh due to the storm.
"The warehouses have huge stocks and so it is not possible to move them on a day's notice. As such the traders had nothing to do in this case," he added.
In the morning, employees were seen draining water from lentil and spice shops along Khatunganj's commissioner lane.
Among them, stacks of items, including lentils, chilli, turmeric and coriander, were soaked in water in each warehouse of Al-Hakim, Baghdad, Fatyali Trading, RM Traders, Shahjalal Traders, Nawab Trading and Khan Trading.
Md Jamshed, the proprietor of Messer's Al-Hakim, said tidal water seeped into hundreds of sacks containing onions and garlic. He suffered a loss of Tk8-10 lakh.
"I was cautious about the cyclone. So on Monday, I put up a wall in front of the shop. But at night, the wall fell and water entered the shop. Within an hour, the shop was filled with water," said Haradhan Nag, a lentil trader in the Chaktai area.
"About 300-400 sacks of various items, such as chickpeas and lentils, got wet. I am working to dry these products by stopping sales from this morning," he added.
Syed Sagir Ahmed, a director of the Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the degree of damage to products and loss caused by tidal water in this traditional market has been increasing year after year.
"The construction of sluice gates at the entrances of the canals in the market area has been going on for a long time, but they are still not operational. Due to the impact of the cyclone and tidal water, at least Tk50 crore worth of goods got damaged again on Monday night," he added.
Around 9:30am, two to three feet of water was seen in the shops on both sides of the road from Teribazar Badarpati Junction to Commerce Bank, Puravita.
Traders said every road in the Chaktai area – Madhya Chaktai, New Chaktai, Char Chaktai, Old Chaktai, Maqbul Saudagar Road and Asadganj – was submerged from 10:30 in the night till 1:30.
In Khatunganj, Hamidullah Market experienced the highest level of water. Md Lokman, a businessman at the market, said there was almost waist-deep water in the entire market from 10pm to 1am.
Apart from this, most of the markets, including Chandmia Goli, Ilyas Market, Badsha Market, Sona Mia Market, Nabi Market, Malla Market, Chaktai Naya Mosque, Drum Patti, Chal Patti and Ejaz Market were flooded, he added.
Nantu Roy, the owner of Mamun Enterprises, said rice was damaged at hundreds of shops in the Chaktai area by water.
Meanwhile, due to the cyclone, low-lying areas of the city, especially Agrabad, CDA Residential, Shantabagh, Halishahar, Chhotapul, Chawkbazar, Baklia, Katalganj and Gate Number Two, went under knee-deep water in the night.
