Tidal surge, rains damage Ctg wholesale hubs

Traders in Khatunganj and Chaktai, major wholesale hubs in Chittagong, are staring at losses of about Tk 50 crore after shops were beset by four feet of water yesterday.

Patenga Met Office recorded 99.8mm of rainfall in the 24 hours to 3pm and there was a tidal surge too.

Water entered nearly 2,000 shops and warehouses, damaging large quantities of perishable goods such as onion, garlic, rice, lentil, sugar, tea, spices and others.

“Even establishments that survived unscathed during the 1991 cyclone were affected,” said Syed Sagir Ahmad, general secretary of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association.

He estimates the losses would be to the tune of several crores this time.

On June 12, traders in Khatunganj, Chaktai and adjoining Asadganj on both sides of the Chaktai canal had suffered the same problem because of a tidal surge caused by depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Facing such inundation over the last few years, most of the proprietors had raised the level of their shops and godowns by up to 2 to 3 feet and started using wooden bases to store the sacks.

Those measures came to no use this time as water entered through the walls.

The problem has worsened over the years as many parts of the Chaktai canal had been filled up for lack of regular dredging and land grabbing, said Ahmad of Khatunganj Trade and Industries Association.

Subsequently, he called for immediate dredging of the canal and installation of sluice gates at its entrance.

Business activities in different markets in the area were on hold as staff was busy driving out water from stores, godowns and mills using pumps or their bare hands. More than 7,000 big and small shops and godowns are located at the business hub.

Traders are yet to calculate the actual losses but they estimate it to be about Tk 50 crore.

At least 250 sacks of pulse stored at a mill of Payel Traders were completely damaged by water, yielding losses of about Tk 15 lakh, said its proprietor Ashutosh Mohajan.

The onrush of water during high tide on Thursday did not cause any alarm, so the goods were not shifted elsewhere, said Ashutosh Mohajan, proprietor of Payel Traders.

“We saw the onrush of water during high tide on Thursday but we did not anticipate that it would get this high up. If we did, we would have shifted some of the goods,” he said.

At least 200 sacks of onion, 50 sacks of ginger and 30 sacks garlic of Era Traders at Hamidulla Mia Bazar at Khatunganj were damaged, said Mohammad Faruq, its director.

The loss could reach Tk 4 lakh, he said, adding that he had to bear damaged of Tk 2 lakh during the onrush of water last month. “It has become a nuisance for us to do business here,” he added. Md Syed, manager of M/s Bagdadi Corporation, another wholesale firm where over 150 sacks of onion and garlic were damaged, said he did not witness this high a surge in 25 years.