News Desk :
Traders in Khatunganj and Chaktai, two major wholesale hubs for commodities, suffered huge losses as their stocks of goods were damaged by tidal surge and rains in the last three days.
A vast areas in Khatunganj, Chaktai and adjoining Korbaniganj and Rajakhali located on both sides of the Chaktai canal remained under knee-deep water for four hours in a day due to the tidal surge caused by depression in the Bay of Bengal.
This damaged huge quantity of perishable commodities such as onion, garlic, rice, lentil, sugar, tea and spices as water entered most of the shops and godowns at the wholesale markets in the areas.
The whole area is submerged once in the afternoon and again at night. Water is now knee-deep in the streets as well as in the warehouses. Goods (ginger, onion and onion) worth crores of taka are being rotten. Even buyers are not coming to the market due to the tidal water, and the businesses transaction comes down to nil, said a trader.
A business leader of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, said traders were yet to calculate their losses as they were still busy to protect their goods.He assumed the loss would more than Tk 100 crore as water entered majority of shops and godowns at Khatunganj and Chaktai.
Over 7,000 big and small shops and godowns are located in Khatunganj and Chaktai.
According to the Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association, the daily turnover in the wholesale market stands at Tk1200-1500 crore.
Syed Sagir Ahmad said every year they have to suffer huge losses due to cronic waterlogging problem. “We want permanent solution to this problem. Chaktai canal should be dredged and excavated and a sluice gate should be built to prevent the tidal surge water from entering the market.”
