20 Years On, Govt Renews Push to Relocate Karwan Bazar

After two decades of delays and missed deadlines, the government has renewed efforts to relocate Karwan Bazar’s kitchen market to Gabtoli as part of a broader plan to ease traffic congestion and reorganise Dhaka’s transport and wholesale markets.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday directed the authorities to begin the process of relocating the kitchen market from Karwan Bazar to Gabtoli.

The decision is part of a wider initiative to address Dhaka’s worsening traffic congestion. The plan also includes relocating the Fulbaria bus terminal to Keraniganj, expanding the Gabtoli bus terminal and introducing electronic toll collection on expressways and flyovers.

The latest move has revived a relocation plan that has been under consideration for nearly two decades.

A 20-year-old plan

The government first approved a Tk206 crore project in 2006 to relocate wholesale and retail kitchen-market businesses from Karwan Bazar to alternative locations, including Jatrabari and Aminbazar.

The project aimed to move wholesale trading activities away from central Dhaka and reduce congestion in the capital.

Implementation began in 2008 after delays related to land and administrative issues. The project was later revised, increasing both its cost and implementation period. The authorities initially expected the alternative markets to be ready and the relocation process to begin by 2010.

That deadline was missed.

Alternative wholesale markets were subsequently developed in places including Mohakhali, Jatrabari and Aminbazar. However, traders were reluctant to relocate, citing concerns over accessibility, shop sizes, transport links and the potential loss of customers.

The Jatrabari wholesale market, completed in 2015 with hundreds of shops, became a prominent example of the difficulties in moving traders despite having alternative infrastructure in place.

Repeated attempts

The relocation effort received fresh momentum in 2016, when city authorities announced plans to move traders to alternative markets. But the initiative failed to meet its target.

By 2020, the original project was already 14 years old, while Karwan Bazar remained a major wholesale hub in central Dhaka.

In 2022, Gabtoli and Sayedabad emerged as proposed destinations for Karwan Bazar’s wholesale activities. The authorities also considered locations such as Aminbazar and Keraniganj as part of a broader plan to move wholesale markets away from central Dhaka.

In 2023, another attempt was made to accelerate the relocation process. A committee was formed to work on moving traders, but concerns over transport, customer access and business viability continued to delay the process.

In 2024, the Dhaka North City Corporation took steps to relocate businesses from a risky building at Karwan Bazar. Some 176 permanent shops and 180 temporary shops were earmarked for relocation to Gabtoli.

New push in 2026

The latest directive once again puts Gabtoli at the centre of the relocation plan.

The government now wants to integrate the relocation with a broader strategy for improving Dhaka’s traffic management and urban infrastructure.

However, successfully implementing the plan will depend on addressing the concerns of traders, ensuring adequate facilities and transport links at Gabtoli, and providing a practical transition plan.

The relocation involves more than simply shifting a market. Thousands of traders, workers, suppliers, transport operators and consumers depend on Karwan Bazar as a major wholesale distribution hub.

The government will therefore need to ensure that traders have viable commercial facilities and that consumers continue to have easy access to fresh produce.

If implemented successfully, the relocation could help reduce congestion in central Dhaka and create a more organised wholesale-market network.

After 20 years of plans and repeated postponements, the latest initiative gives the government another opportunity to complete a relocation effort that began in 2006.