Sanwar Hossain :
Makeshift shops on pavements in the capital city recorded low sales this time because of thin turnout of shoppers, especially the low-income group who depend on such shops to collect outfits to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitre, the biggest festival of the Muslims.
Low to mid-income city dwellers who are heavily depended on such vendors remained missing from shopping unlike earlier years to keep them dry and tidy from sudden rain.
The vendors expressed their dissatisfaction over the low sales to this correspondent who came across them Gulistan, Paltan, Farmgate, New Market, Chadni Chawk and different points of Mirpur are some hot spots for such vendors.
Robust sales were expected during the holy Ramzan, but frequent shower over the month and traffic chaos had lowered sales, traders said.
Jabbar Ali, a men’s shirt vendor in-front of the Gulistan shopping Complex told the New Nation: “Most of the products I’ve gathered for sales are still unsold. Customers are a few in the markets due to frequent rain, water logging on the streets and heavy traffic jam this year”.
“We are installing our stalls every day on the footpaths and sheltering our products under plastic shades to keep our products dry from sudden rain,” he added.
Frequent eviction drive by the city corporations has displaced these vendors and natural calamity made the situation worse, some vendors pointed out demanding that the city corporations take proper rehabilitation scheme for them.
However, they did not experience such eviction drives from the twin corporations in the city.
“Earlier years we had a fixed position in the footpaths which attracted the customers most to buy essentials at cheap rate,” said Najir Hossain, a shoe vendor in front of the Baitul Mukaram market.
Hossain also said they need a stable settlement of trading space soon to keep their business safe, as the mayor promised to provide the vendors a permanent space for trading earlier.
When contracted, Jakir Hossain, the public relations officer of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC,) said, “We are keen to relocate street vendors to suitable locations. By this time we have declared holiday market spaces in different parts of the city.”
He also said, “Street vendors are not willing to leave the footpaths of the city and continue their business over there. It’s not acceptable because they are creating blockage to the routes used by the passers-by, grabbing spaces illegally.
The DSCC will continue eviction drive regularly right after the Eid-ul-Fitr to keep city footpaths useable by the dwellers, Jakir added.
A buyer also suggested the city corporations take proper steps to fix marketplaces for vendors from whom they could collect the products of their choice.
“We come to street vendors to buy products at cheap rate. Various offers are available here and we can bargain with the vendors to get the products at a rate much lower than the rate offered by other markets,” said, Maria Jahan, a housewife searching for new dresses for her 3-year old kid in front of the Baitul Mokaram market.
She also expressed despair that products are becoming costlier even in the footpaths and in the shopping malls those are much higher than earlier years.
The increased cost of living is also pushing them to spend less this year, she also pointed out.
