The usual busyness of Bangaon, a town on the India-Bangladesh border, is now much quieter. Four months ago, the student movement in Bangladesh and Sheikh Hasina taking refuge in India, the city's economy began to loosen. Recently, the situation has become more fragile as India has tightened the visa policy for Bangladeshis.
A Times of India report has shown such a picture of Bangaon.
According to the report, Bangaon markets and hotels, which are usually crowded with Bangladeshi shoppers, are now virtually empty. Traders are in extreme uncertainty as the flow of buyers from across the border has almost stopped.
50-60 percent business collapse
Gopal Seth, chairman of Bangaon municipality, said that the business of Bangaon has collapsed by 50 to 60 percent in the last few months. The once bustling 'Tao Bazar' is now silent. Gautam Halder, the owner of a cotton shop there, said, 'My sales have come down to 30 percent.'
The biggest crowd of Bangladeshi buyers was seen in Motiganj and Tao Bazar. These two markets are basically almost deserted now. With this, the hotel sector is in crisis. In the last seven-eight decades, the hotel sector here has been greatly enriched by the influx of tourists, medical service seekers and businessmen from Bangladesh. But now hotels like Mother's Blessing Guest House on Jessore Road are pretty much haunted. Chittaranjan Saha, the owner of the hotel, said, 'I have never seen such a situation before except the years of Covid.'
The service sector also collapsed
Due to the lack of Bangladeshi tourists, the source of income of hotel workers, auto and auto drivers, rickshaw pullers and coolies is almost closed. Biswajit Das, the owner of Mae Santoshi Lodge, said, 'The progress made in this sector since 1947 is under threat today.'
Some Bangladeshi tourists are still coming. But they are also uncertain about the future. Rehana Khatun from Jessore said, 'The situation is such that I don't know if I will be able to come again in the future.'
Bangaon's empty streets and deserted bazaars are clear evidence of the city's stagnant economy. If border tensions and political unrest continue, the crisis could be prolonged.
