Rickshaw-vans occupy afresh the parking space at the Karwan BazarPhoto: STAR

The entire Karwan Bazar commercial area including its wide thoroughfares turns into a virtual car park every day with the designated parking ground left in an abandoned state.
Vehicles are parked on the roads in a haphazard manner, creating serious hindrance to public movement in the area specially during the rush hours.
Karwan Bazar is one of city's busiest commercial districts, home to the biggest kitchen market in the capital and scores of government and private offices.
The joint forces reclaimed the car parking space, to the east of the DCC's kitchen market at Karwan Bazar, from a two-decade long illegal occupancy in the last week of January evicting several hundred illegal set-ups.
Unauthorised shops and offices of different political parties had been running for decades at the site with political leaders' blessings and back-up of gangsters.
Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has never taken any action in this regard.
The parking space has now been occupied with stockpiles of goods, rickshaw vans and garbage with the DCC yet to develop the car parking facility.
The area is earmarked in the Rajuk's master plan to facilitate car parking and prevent traffic congestion in the commercial area, said experts.
Hasan Arif, executive of an electronic appliance showroom at Karwan Bazar, said that it becomes difficult to move in the area during normal working hour as almost all the roads and roadside spaces are blocked by parked cars.
The abandoned parking area has also turned into a safe haven for anti-social elements like drug addicts, gamblers and druggists, said shopkeepers in the vicinity.
According to sources, DCC could not evict 16 shops in the western side of the parking area, as it had earlier leased out the land.
A public toilet was set up under Urban Primary Healthcare Project of DCC on the eastern side of the parking space a couple of years back. The toilet has now been abandoned.
Syed Kudrat Ullah, superintendent engineer of DCC's Traffic Engineering Division, said they have decided to develop a hard standing pavement for car parking at the site temporarily as developing a multi-storey parking facility will take a long time.
“Tendering process for the work is complete,” he said. “We are now going to appoint a contractor.”
However, he could not say when they would be able to begin the work.
Replying to a question on whether they have obtained land use clearance from Rajuk to develop the parking facility, he said, “The process in on.”
Kudrat Ullah said DCC intends to develop a multi-storey car parking facility at the site.
Entrusted by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), the DCC is the custodian for developing and taking care of the car parking space.
Maintenance of the Karwan Bazar kitchen market was handed over to DCC during the HM Ershad regime by an office order in 1985.
During the tenure of mayor Mohammad Hanif, the DCC leased out the parking area to the wholesale traders to make room for 160 makeshift shops and a road.
After Sadeque Hossain Khoka took over as mayor, he too leased out a designated children's park to the wholesale traders of the kitchen market.
The children's park was set up in 1985 on two bighas of land. It was finally turned into a market in 2005.