Dreams of small businesses along Ctg Road reduced to ashes

Their dreams got shattered all of a sudden.

Nazim Uddin and Shaheen had closed their tyre and battery shops, respectively, at the Hazi Ibrahim Khalil Shopping Complex in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj, and gone home.

But when they returned, they found their stores reduced to ashes by a devastating fire amidst student protests.

The dreams of many traders along Chattogram Road in Narayanganj were destroyed by a fire on 20 July amidst the quota reform movement.

With limited capital, they had hoped to change their fortunes, but now they are left wondering how to rebuild their lives after the devastating fire reduced everything to ashes.

Shopkeepers estimate that damage on the first floor of the shopping complex amounts to approximately Tk10-12 crore. The Shimrail branch of the Dutch-Bangla Bank was located on the second floor, and everything there has been burned. There is a restaurant on the third floor, but the extent of the damage to these two floors is still unknown.

Shopkeepers believe the building might not have been set on fire if shots had not been fired from the 8th floor. This tragic event left them destitute.

After news broke out that a person had been killed in police firing, agitators set the shops ablaze, they added.

On Sunday afternoon, businessmen Nizam and Shahin were busy clearing the ashes of their burned shops. They said everything was lost, with no opportunity to salvage even a single taka's worth of goods.

"We are in no position to recover now," one of them lamented, a sentiment echoed by the other. "We have to start again from scratch, but we don't know how."

Nizam Uddin said, "My loss from the fire amounts to around Tk50 lakh. I don't know how to recover from such a loss."

Shaheen said he had lost around Tk60 lakh. This was his only source of income, and now he feels lost and disoriented.

Automation Group engineer Faisal Aziz was busy cleaning the burned showroom.

He said, "We mainly sell industrial electrical devices. Our showroom often had 2,500 types of equipment, with a purchase value of about Tk1.5 crore, all of which is now gone. The fire spread quickly inside the building due to a paint shop next door."

Hamdard Laboratories (Waqf) Bangladesh had a branch in this building. Yusuf Bhuiyan, the area manager, reported a loss of around Tk40 lakh.

"Everything is burned," he said. "A fire broke out within hours of our closing the shop."

Al Amin, who owned a bicycle shop in the market, suffered massive damage. Goods worth about Tk1.5 crore were destroyed in the fire. He doesn't know when or how he will recover from this loss.

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, proprietor of a drug store, reported a loss of about Tk20 lakh. "This shop is the only source of income for my family. It all ended in a fire," he said.

He also mentioned that a BRB cable showroom in the market suffered a loss of around Tk2 crore. Additionally, a paint seller incurred a loss of about Tk2 crore. It is particularly the small traders who have lost everything and are now destitute.

Small traders set up their businesses with loans, investing all the wealth they had accumulated over their lives in hopes of changing their fortunes. Now, having lost everything, they are left destitute and uncertain about when they will be able to recover.

The traders along Chattogram Road are engulfed in despair. While the highway seems normal with the usual sounds of traffic, profound silence and deep contemplation prevail in the minds of these businessmen.

It remains to be seen whether these entrepreneurs will be able to rebuild their lives or how they will overcome this devastation caused to their businesses.