Millionaire goes bankrupt in the blink of an eye

Md Zobair was supposed to pass a hectic time being fully busy with the customers visiting his two shops named Black Diamond-1 and 2 and a godown at Bangabazar Super market as the biggest sales season is going on ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.

But he was searching if anything was left saleable from the ruins and ashes on Tuesday afternoon when the devastating fire came under control.

Zobair, who was running his shops of stylish shirts and denim trousers in the market for the last 10 years, said he became a street beggar from a millionaire in the blink of an eye.

“I bought new products targeting the Eid customers. The goods worth Tk 1 crore 20 lakh that I invested turned to ash in the fire. I took Tk 70 lakh loan from three banks and borrowed another Tk 40 lakh from my relatives and friends. I couldn’t save anything from the fire. I don’t know how to repay my debts and lead my life,” he said.

This is not the only case of Zobair. Like him, over 4,000 traders and around 100,000 to 150,000 other people, who depend on the market for livelihoods, have been affected in the fire that broke out in Bangabazar Shopping Complex at about 6:10 am Tuesday. 50 firefighting units brought the fire under control around 12:36 pm.

Another businessman Mizanur Rahman, the owner of Arafat Sari House, was crying in front of Annexco Tower. A man was trying to console him but no consolation seemed enough. Mizanur could not control his emotion while seeing his livelihoods burning in front of his eyes.

“I’m done. I couldn’t do expected business in the last couple of years’ Eid due to coronavirus pandemic. This year I thought finally I would do some business. I rushed to the spot at 7:00 am but by the time my shops were burned down. This fire has finished me completely,” Mizanur said while breaking in tears.

Tofazzal Hossain had also a sari shop at Bangabazar. He invested around Tk 40 lakh in the business centring the upcoming Eid. Standing in front of the market, Tofazzal was silent. Tears were rolling down his cheeks.

Another shop owner, Syed Russel, was seen speaking in mobile phone. Being engulfed with frustration, he was screaming and telling how his investment of Tk 65 lakh turned to ashes.

It was difficult to assess the total amount of loss from the fire but leaders of shop owners association said they estimated that it wouldn’t be less than Tk 1,500 crore.

Bangladesh Shop Owners Association President Md Helal Uddin said, “Around 5,000 shops of Bangabazar were ravaged in the fire. The loss is estimated to be over Tk1,500 crore. These traders’ capital is their goods. We demand from the government an allocation of Tk 700 crore so that traders can recover a portion of their loss of Eid-centred business.”

State minister for disaster management and relief Md Enamur Rahman said they already asked the district administration to allocate Tk 15,000 to each trader.

“We have formed special medical team for treatment of the injured persons. We will rehabilitate the traders following completion of the investigation,” he said.