Narsingdi wholesale clothing market reopens as Eid nears

NEWS DESK

Bangladesh's biggest wholesale clothing market at Baburhat in Narsingdi district has reopened prior to the Eid-ul-Fitr with some curbs amid the nationwide lockdown designed to limit the coronavirus spread.

According to FT, it is one of the traditional sales hubs of local fabrics in Bangladesh, an hour's drive from the capital. Several indigenous fabrics of the market, including gamchha and lungi, are famous across the country and exported as well.

Thousands of traders and clothing workers depend on the market for their livelihoods. Daily turnover during the Eid festival usually stands at Tk 10 billion, but the traders and workers are worried about the sales this year as they have already suffered a big blow.

The workers have lost their livelihoods while the traders are also facing a crisis to repay the loans they have taken from banks. Usually, the sales witness a robust growth a month or 15 days before the Eid, but more than 10 days of Ramadan has already passed.

Trading continued after the nationwide shutdown was imposed in March, but the market was totally closed when the authorities put Narsingdi on complete lockdown on Apr 9 following a surge in coronavirus cases.

It resumed operations on Sunday following an application by Baburhat Traders’ Association and Narsingdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry after the reopening of apparel factories in Bangladesh, the district’s Deputy Commissioner Syeda Farhana Kawnine said.

The traders have been told to maintain physical distancing and trade online while no more than three customers will be allowed in a shop at a time.

But Narsingdi Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ali Hossain Shisir said most of the traders do not have the skills to run shops online.

 “We will shut the market down again if the traders fail to follow the rules,” the DC said.

Law enforcers, led by an executive magistrate, will monitor the market, she said.