Vendors take over the streets of Gulistan to sell merchandise

Vendors taking over footpaths is fairly common in Dhaka -- but in Gulistan, they have taken over the streets linking the main roads.

Fruits, clothes, ornaments, and many other merchandise are on display on these streets, giving the look of a rundown outdoor bazaar.

On Sunday, these streets are fully grabbed and no space is left for pedestrians to walk by.

There is no way one can use rickshaws or vehicles on these streets.

Illegal parking of passenger and goods transports on the street under the Mayor Hanif Flyover is rampant, making it impossible for other vehicles to use it.

The vendors and illegally parked vehicles cause frequent traffic snarls in the area where important offices like Dhaka South City Corporation and Fire Service headquarters are located.

Wholesale markets of clothes, footwear and other goods are also situated in Gulistan.

Police are seen struggling to control the traffic, but they seem indifferent about the encroachment on the streets of Gulistan.

Police have set up barricades on a lane of the street linking the ‘Underground Market’ beside Mahanagr Natyamancha and Golap Shah Mazar.

The street is entirely taken over by the vendors, who are selling goods on paper or baskets. Some have even set up makeshift shops.

Traffic Police Sub-Inspector ‘Shaminul’ gave an impressive explanation.

“We’ve put a barricade to keep the situation normal,” he told bdnews24.com.

Asked if the street was meant to facilitate travel or provide space for vendors, the SI seemed helpless.

“They (vendors) return whenever we push them away. It’s not possible for the traffic police to move these footpath shops in Gulistan away. And it’s not our duty.”

The scenario is same on the street linking Nawabpur and Phulbarhia. The hawkers are all over the street under the flyover.

The street from Phulbarhia to Bangabazar has become the parking space for buses. The drivers, conductors and their assistants take rest here. Many of them repair the vehicles on the street as well.

Sergeant ‘Forkan’ said, “It seems that the vehicles need repair only when they come to Gulistan.”

He added that it was not traffic police’s duty to remove the vehicles, but 12 government organisations including BRTA and city corporation are there to do that.

Many alleged that the encroachers pay up the police and politicians for grabbing the streets at Gulistan.

At least 10 vendors in Gulistan told bdnews24.com that they pay “line charge” regularly.