Teardrops on ashes of books

The shopkeepers of the Nilkhet book market that caught fire in the capital on Tuesday are in a miserable state after losing their businesses to the blaze.

One such shopkeeper Billal Hossain, owner of Dewan Store, was staring at the burnt books of his store, piled up on the floor yesterday noon.

"Our fate has also burned with the books," he said.

The shop was the only source of income for his family, but it turned to ashes in the fire, he added.

According to Billal, he stored books worth around Tk 8 lakh in his warehouse that was on the ground floor. Some 65 percent of the books were burnt in the fire and the rest were damaged in water.

Besides Billal's Dewan Store, Gitanjali, Babul Book, Tapan Book Centre, Udayan Library, Boi Bitan and many others faced a similar fate.

Each of the shops has employees, now unaware of how they will survive.

Jahanara Begum, 60, saw the fire on television and rushed to the spot from her house in Paltan.

Her two sons own two bookstores -- New Book Garden and Tapan Book Centre -- at the market.

"The two stores had books worth Tk 8-10 lakh. They bought new books two days ago taking loans as schools and colleges reopened," said wailing Jahanara.

"We have lost everything. Now, what will happen to my sons? How will they bear the expenses?"

Visiting the fire-ravaged market yesterday morning, this correspondent found that shopkeepers were dumping the burnt books on the floor while the rag pickers were collecting those from the streets.

Gias Uddin, a director of the market, said books and stationery items worth Tk several crores in 50 shops were damaged due to fire and water.

The bookshop owners sought financial support from the government to cover their huge losses, he added.