Why is it taking so long to relocate Karwan Bazar?

It has been nearly two decades since the government decided to shift Karwan Bazar kitchen market from the heart of the city to its outskirts. Over the last 17 years, Dhaka City Corporation took several initiatives, yet Karwan Bazar sits where it always has.

The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) built three markets to accommodate the shops, and held a series of meetings with business leaders of the kitchen market. The latter claim they have no problem in relocating, but "the authorities must ensure that the environment in the new locations is conducive to business." 

Recently, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) took yet another initiative, this time saying they will do "whatever is needed" to shift the market.         

According to DNCC, there are 1,804 shops under their jurisdiction, including the wholesale vegetable markets in the Karwan Bazar area. It wants to relocate all of them. 

Photo: Noor-A-Alam

Every day, on average, 150 trucks come to Karwan Bazar from different corners of the country. In winter, the number of trucks increases, as there are more vegetables.

Last month, DNCC made a fresh effort to relocate Karwan Bazar to two markets: one at Gabtoli and another at Jatrabari. It has formed a committee comprising city corporation officials, local representatives as well as business leaders to oversee the relocation. 

Such committees were also formed in the past, but only time will tell if the current series of meetings will bring any significant results.  

In the past, DCC constructed three markets at Mohakhali, Gabtoli and Jatrabari. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mohakhali market was converted to a hospital. The wholesale market in Jatrabari has been left unused while DNCC has been using the Gabtoli market as its automobile workshop and garage.    

Why is the relocation taking so long?  

Whenever the city corporation makes a move, shop owners attach conditions to the relocation. They say the new markets have not been built keeping wholesale shops in mind. Instead of shops with shutters, they need ones which are open on all sides. 

Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The shop owners say they will shift to Gabtoli only if the city corporation stops the operations of privately owned and organisation-owned wholesale markets in the city. 

There are two such markets which they want evicted: one in Mirpur Mazar Road and another in Rayer Bazar. 

The shop owners are demanding the construction of a road from Mirpur Mazar Road to the Gabtoli market and another one from the market to Mohammadpur. These are their main demands, and there are some more they plan to pile on.     

Omar Faruk, president of Karwan Bazar Khudra Arat Bebasayee Samabay Samiti (Karwan Bazaar Small Traders' Association) said, "We will go there only if they [the city corporation] does something good for us," adding, "similar to people relocating abroad, like Canada, for a better life."  

On 19 June, Omar Faruk attended a meeting with the newly formed committee members where he placed a demand that they will go to the new market if all kinds of facilities are ensured. He also demanded that there be no privately owned wholesale market in Dhaka. There are four such vegetable markets in the city. 

"They assured us that they would tell the mayor and take the initiative to evict such markets," he said. During the meeting, Omar told authorities to hand over the market to them and they will fix it according to their convenience. 

Photo: Noor-A-Alam

Mosharraf Hossain Mondal, treasurer of the association, said that they have been doing business for a long time in the area and now they are assessing whether their business will fare well in the new places. 

"If we go to these new markets, will customers come to us?" asked Mosharraf, pointing out that there are two other wholesale vegetable markets in Dhaka that consumers may prefer to go to, if Karwan Bazar is relocated.  

He added they are not the only ones to blame for traffic congestion in the Karwan Bazar area. There are influential people who illegally occupy both sides of the Karwan Bazar Road and rent it out.  

"You cannot walk from Sonargaon [Hotel] to Ershad Building [Vision 2021 Tower]," said Mosharraf. "What do the City Corporation officials do? The city mayor is only creating pressure on us to shift the market."  

Adil Mohammed Khan, a professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University, believes that Karwan Bazar's businessmen do not want to relocate because they are not assured that business will run smoothly elsewhere as it does in Karwan Bazar. 

"If they go to a new place, they will not be able to create a successful business overnight," said Adil, adding, "who will take care of them during the transition period?"   

He also said that there are also political dynamics in the relocation process of the existing market. 

"Many political leaders are reportedly making money illegally by cashing in on the market and as a result, they will never want the market to go somewhere else," he opined.   

He added that the city corporation's claim that the relocation will reduce traffic congestion may not be correct because if the city corporation builds commercial buildings on the empty land, then the situation might become worse. 

"Bashundhara City Shopping Mall is one of the main reasons for traffic jams in the area; the Panthapath road was not that jam packed before its opening," said Adil Mohammad.  

However, DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam sounded more determined to shift Karwan Bazar shops this time.  

"They [ business leaders] always say that they do not want to go to the newly built markets. They even say they would rather die here in Karwan Bazar," he said.  

However, he said that there is no scope to remain that adamant. He said that the prime minister does want wholesale markets to remain at the heart of the city like Karwan Bazar. For this reason, DNCC wants to keep the dialogue open for the relocation. 

"We will accommodate those who are doing business legally and my message is clear: There is no scope of keeping wholesale markets inside the city," said the mayor. 

He also said that of the 1,804 shops in Karwan Bazar, the city authority will relocate 895 to Jatrabari. The rest will be shifted to Gabtoli.  

There are 180 temporary shops in Karwan Bazar and the city corporation has designed a temporary vegetable wholesale market for them in place of the BDR market in Gabtoli. 

"If we do this, the traffic jams will be reduced to a great extent in the city. And a discipline will come to the Karwan Bazar area," said Mayor Atiqul Islam. "For a smart Bangladesh, we will have to construct a smart wholesale market." 

He said they have a plan to complete the relocation by the beginning of next year. 

When asked what he is planning to do in Karwan Bazar after the relocation, he said that he has several options in consideration.  

"We will place different options to the prime minister for the use of the Karwan Bazar land. Such as culture hubs, corporate offices etc. We will construct these at the prime minister's directives," he said.