The oldest of Old Dhaka

Sharfuddin Ali looked at the street full of rain, which showed no signs of stopping soon.

"If the rain does not stop now it might cost me a heavy toll," said the storehouse owner at Shyambazar in Old Dhaka.

Most of the products that the market deals with -- different vegetables and dry food items such as onion, garlic, and ginger -- are perishable, the middle-aged businessman added.

"None can store those for long, which requires a quick exchange of hands." When nature cooperates, labourers start loading trucks in the afternoon.

But officially, it only starts at 8pm. Unloading starts two hours later and continues till morning.

There are around 375 shops in the market, said Md Sahid, commissioner of Ward 79 in Farashganj.

"All the shops are not of the same kind. Some are just storehouses, while some belong to importers and wholesalers," said Sahid, who is also the president of Shyambazar Krishi Pannya Arat Banik Samiti.

The half a kilometre long market has Sadarghat Launch Terminal in the west, Banglabazar in the north and the river Buriganga in the south.

It ends on the BK Das Road in the east, he added. This place remains open seven days a week with a three-hour break on Friday, from noon to 3pm.

One of the oldest markets in the country was once the lone handler of imported goods. "Those days are gone," said Khorshed Ali, who works for Dhaka Bangla Arat.

The century-old market was in its full bloom after the liberation war. Later, other markets entered the arena and split the business, Ali recalled.

The number of shops increased and changed the modes of transportation -- from manual boats to steamers and trucks. Here, profit has various natures.

Wholesalers and importers maintain the natural economics of selling at higher prices than the procurement cost. But the storehouse owners' profit comes from commissions.

"Importers give us around Tk 0.30 a kilogram in commissions if we can sell their products," said Mohammad Hanif, a manager of a storehouse.

"But the amount varies depending on the type of the product." Sales at an average store can be about Tk 5-6 lakh. Big stores are able to store 10 truckloads of goods at a time and can sell 10 times that amount.

"Traders here feel the highest pressure in the months of Falgun/Chaitrya and Baishakh, when new vegetables and dry kitchen items grow," added Hanif.

"At Eid-ul-Azha, demand for spices also increases." But traders suffer from a lack of security. Most vegetables and products are brought to the market via water, with a possibility of getting looted by pirates.

Other businessmen in the market also feel the same threat on their way to the bank to deposit money. Traffic congestion and muddy streets are two other wrinkles on smooth trade, though local commissioner Md Shahid expects improvements soon.

Shahid said: "I formed a community police of 24 members for the market. Splitting into three groups, they move round the market, in rotations, to ensure safe trade everywhere."

On congestion, he added: "It's hard to improve in a day. But we're trying heart and soul."

shoyeb@thedailystar.net