Traders at the Jatrabari wholesale kitchen market are running business directly on the highway, narrowing a vital thoroughfare and creating significant challenges for pedestrians and vehicles.
A visit to the area by the UNB correspondent reveals a chaotic scene where vehicles transporting vegetables frequently load and unload on the road from midnight onwards. Private cars remain parked on much of the highway throughout the day, aggravating the congestion.
In the afternoons, a makeshift wholesale kitchen market operates on the road, blatantly violating traffic regulations. Vegetables and fish are sold here, further contributing to disorder and disruption.
For the traders, occupying the road seems to have become the norm.
“We operate our businesses with proper permissions. Customers appreciate the convenience of finding us on the roadside and enjoy wholesale rates on essential items,” claimed Rahim, a vegetable trader.
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But these practices have led to severe traffic problems. Wholesalers distribute goods to other parts of the country from this road, causing consistent gridlock. One wholesaler dismissed concerns, advising reporters to focus on other matters and claiming no complaints had been received about their operations.
Regular commuters, however, paint a different picture.
Abu Bakr, a private job holder who travels through the area daily, described the experience as “hellish,” particularly during the summer.
“Police and the administration witness this chaos every day but remain completely indifferent,” he said.
Veteran driver Abdul Halim, who has navigated the Dhaka-Comilla route for over two decades, shared his frustration. “Crossing just half a kilometre in the Jatrabari kitchen market area can take more than 30 minutes due to the mismanagement. Both sides of the road are problematic,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dhaka South City Corporation Mizanur Rahman told UNB that they have taken all measures to hand over the shops to the traders as soon as possible.
" We have already discussed the issues in our recent meeting. It will be solved immediately to bring the discipline in the kitchen market," he said.
The Jatrabari wholesale kitchen market was one of three such facilities built by Dhaka City Corporation to relocate traders from Karwan Bazar. Completed in 2015, the four-storey market on five bighas of land was designed to accommodate 895 shops.
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But the facility remains largely unused. Traders operating in open spaces have refused to move into the market, citing difficulties in conducting their business from within the building.
The abandoned structure has since become a hotspot for drug addicts. The third and fourth floors lie vacant, and parts of the second floor are being used as a garage for rickshaw vans. In the middle of the building, darkness prevails even during daylight hours. Many shop shutters have been stolen, and some units are filled with waste from the fish market.
Dhaka’s two city corporations have officially approved 64 kitchen markets across the capital, but countless unauthorised markets continue to spring up, particularly at major intersections.
These illegal establishments are often backed by influential local groups.
Traders at such markets argue they pay rent comparable to legal markets but remain silent about who receives these payments.
Critics point out that much of Bangladesh’s marketing sphere, including kitchen markets, is controlled by powerful financial syndicates.
Even in regulated markets, government-imposed pricing is frequently ignored. Customers’ lack of awareness and indifference often make enforcement ineffective, leaving buyers at the mercy of fluctuating prices.