Gulshan DNCC market fire: Uninsured traders facing huge loss

The fire started around 2:30am yesterday and raged on for hours before it was brought under control around 5:45pm, according to Fire Service officials. With the damage to the shops and merchandise estimated at more than Tk500 crore, the fact that most shops were uninsured means this incident will have devastating effects on the shop owners’ business and livelihood. Anwar Hossain Mawla, owner of Mawla Traders in the market, who has been running a business of food products and household commodities in the market for 14 years, claimed he had lost goods worth around Tk4 crore in the fire. “The fire has robbed me of everything I had. I do not know what to do now,” he lamented. Asked if he had acquired insurance for his marchandise, Anwar said he had attempted to get an insurance several times, but failed to do so due to the land dispute between Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the shop owners’ association in the market. “Most of the traders have been unable to get the insurance, just like me,” he said. “The insurance companies refuse to provide us with insurance due to the ownership dispute over the land where the market was built,” said SM Talal Rezvi, chairman of DNCC Paka Market Traders’ Association. Prof M Muzahidul Islam, teacher at Dhaka University’s department of banking and insurance, explained the problem the dispute had created. “If one wants to avail an insurance for their wealth, it must have insurable interest. Ownership is considered the key condition for insurance,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. “Perhaps the shop owners and traders failed to prove undisputed ownership, which is why insurance companies refused to provide them with insurance.”Losses amount to more than Tk500 croreSher Mohammad, chairman of the shop owners’ association, said the losses caused by the fire could be around Tk500-600 crore. According to sources, there were 295 shops in the kitchen market where some 400 traders conducted business. The entire kitchen market collapsed in the fire. In the building area, some 234 shops have been severely damaged, putting thousands of shop attendants out of job. When contacted yesterday afternoon, Shakil Nawaz, director of operations at Fire Service and Civil Defence, said they had yet to make an estimate of total loss as they were still working to douse the fire. “A probe committee has been formed to investigate the incident. The amount of losses will be confirmed after the probe,” he said.