Fire partially destroys Gulshan market

No casualty was reported and the reason behind the fire was still unknown as of last night. The shop owners and leaders of two markets in two separate buildings – City Corporation (North) 1 Kitchen Market and Gulshan DNCC Market – blamed the city corporation’s higher authority and Metro Group for the deadly fire. City Mayor Annisul Huq, however, denied the allegations of the business owners. A seven-member probe committee headed by Lieutenant Colonel Mosharof Hossain was formed to investigate the cause of the fire. The devastating fire damaged around 700 permanent and temporary businesses of various items of household and daily goods, baby food, furniture and others. According to the victims, the fire damaged around 400 shops in the kitchen market and around 300 shops in another wholesale super market. The Traders Association Chairman Sher Mohammad claimed that the loss from the fire would be around Tk500-600 crore. “The city corporation wants to build a new establishment on this land. The authorities of city corporation (former DCC) floated tender for the new building in 2010 without any consultation with the traders and Metro Group got the contract. “Former DCC mayor and BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka made the plan first in 2003,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. Two petitions filed against the decision are now pending with the High Court. “We are 100% sure that gunpowder was used to set fire to the market; otherwise, the building would not have collapsed. Metro Group is involved in the arson attack,” Sher Mohammad said. He also claimed that it was a premeditated attack. “The authorities of Metro Group and Dhaka North City Corporation hired miscreants to torch the market to evict us.” Association Secretary Abul Kashem has threatened to wage a movement if the authorities do not compensate them. “The DNCC authorities must allocate us plots in the new building, and return the booking money we had deposited.” The DNCC owns a kitchen market and a super market on a seven bigha land. The market was set up in 1962 and shops were allocated to businessmen in 1983. The traders also criticised the fire fighters for taking too much time to reach the spot and failing to put out the fire quickly. Fire Service officials said they had not found enough water in the adjacent buildings. During a visit to the spot yesterday morning, DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq, however, claimed that the fire was an accident. “It might have originated from an electric short circuit,” he told reporters. Asked about the allegation of an arson attack, the mayor said that it was the police’s duty to investigate the matter and the cause of the fire. “However, we are 99% sure that it was an accident,” Annisul said. While revisiting the spot for the second time in the afternoon, the mayor said: “The fire is under control but we have not been able to completely extinguish it yet.” Denying a claim about city corporation and Metro Group behind the fire, he said: “It is just their claim. It is not true. Talk to the shop owners about it.” The devastating fire spread to the adjacent Gulshan Shopping Centre yesterday morning. A six-storey shopping centre on the Gulshan Avenue had been evacuated earlier in the day fearing that the fire might spread. The collapsed part of the DCC kitchen market fell on the Gulshan Shopping Centre damaging a few shops. Fire fighters are trying to douse the fire of the collapsed portion, fearing the heat may ignite fire to the adjacent market. Robiul Islam Rubel, owner of an electronic shop at Gulshan Shopping Centre, said: “A few shops were affected when the damaged building of the kitchen market tilted slightly towards it.” Local MP AKM Rahmatullah told the Dhaka Tribune: “We will sit with the shop owners and city corporation officials in the evening and form a probe body.” When asked whether it was a planned attack, he said: “Investigation will find it out.” Police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque and DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah also visited the spot. Fire service and Civil Defences Duty Officer Ataur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that 22 units had worked to douse the blaze.