Shahbagh flower shops evicted

Dhaka City authorities have evicted flower shops occupying the sidewalks at Shahbagh for a long time.

Dhaka City Corporation (South) started the drive, assisted by police, on Saturday morning.

Shahbagh police Inspector Habil Hossain said the DCC was carrying out the drive to clean up the place and to ensure hassle-free vehicular movement in the area.

"We are just assisting them," he told bdnews24.com.

A police official seeking anonymity told bdnews24.com that the eviction precedes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's proposed visit to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University on Saturday.

Meanwhile the florists complained that they face loss of livelihood for not getting advance notice before the eviction.

Florist Abul Kalam said the drive was carried out without any prior notice. "(I’ve) never seen such an eviction in (last) 30 years."

They were told to remove their shops in an announcement made 10 minutes before the authorities swung into action, said florists Rokeya Begam and ‘Rajan’.

They said although the business has no legal grounds, they have been running it through mutual understanding with the city corporation.

Every shop has been paying Tk 750 to the corporation for cleaning the garbage from the shops, they said.