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Babubazaar a wholesale rice market of dhaka city, established at badamtali near the bank of the river buriganga in 1925. Khaja Abdul Hafiz of ahsan manzil and a few businessmen took from the government a place at the riverbank on lease to establish the market. The market had only seven to ten shops in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the British government restricted rice trade in the open market. As a result, rice trade in Badamtali was suspended for a few years. The united front government of East Bengal withdrew the restriction on the rice trade in 1954. The market was gradually extended up to the Babubazaar area in the neighbourhood. Since the mid-1960s, Babubazaar and Badamtali became known as the major wholesale rice markets in Dhaka city. At present, there are around three hundred and fifteen rice
Adats (wholesale stock houses) at Babubazaar. Most of these adats are partnership businesses. Some are family owned businesses but there are also some sole proprietorship rice trading houses. In the past, supplies of rice came from barisal and mymensingh. About 90% of the rice supplies used to come by water transport. The major part of supplies to Babubazaar now come from dinajpur, rajshahi, naogaon, mymensingh, jamalpur and sherpur. Greatest part of the supplies come by truck.
Wholesalers in Babubazaar buy rice for cash or in credit
and sell for cash or on a commission basis to the city's retailers so
that they can take them to local markets. But before resale, the Babubazaar
traders sort the rice into three broad classes: high quality, medium quality
and low quality. The peak season of rice trade is between May and December.
[Md Masudur Rahman] |
