In a 2 square kilometer area in central Kolkata that is heavily dependent on tourists and customers from across the border, more than 100 hotels and 3,000 stores are in crisis, with business down 70% as Bangladeshi arrivals have plummeted in recent months.

"Since July, only four or five out of the 30 rooms in my hotel on Marquis Street were occupied by Bangladeshi guests. Prior to the students' movement and the ouster of Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, there would be 26-28 Bangladeshi guests at a time," said Monotosh Sarkar, an executive committee member of the Calcutta Hotel & Restaurant Owners' Association.

Some of the smaller hotels with around a dozen rooms have had to temporarily down shutters because it is no longer viable to operate with only one or two guests. "The situation is almost like what we faced during Covid in 2021 when there were travel restrictions," Sarkar pointed out.

Rejen Biswas from Chattogram, who is staying in a nearly deserted hotel that used to resonate with the loud chatter of fellow countrymen thronging the other rooms during past trips, said curbs on the issue of fresh visas imposed by the Indian govt following the upheaval in Bangladesh led to the sharp decline in Bangladeshi arrivals in Kolkata.

"I already had a visa and hence travelled to Kolkata. But for those applying now, unless there is a medical emergency, visas are not being issued. Perhaps there are concerns over the unstable situation in Bangladesh that prompted Indian authorities to become so strict with visas," Biswas said, adding that once the validity of visas is over by Dec-Jan, the 10%-15% cross-border travel will also cease.

Shopkeepers at New Market, who usually get more customers from Bangladesh than from different parts of Kolkata, are distraught. They are wary that if the instability in Bangladesh continues for a couple of years and India continues to place curbs, the micro-economy in the belt will collapse.

Choco Nut, a shop in New Market that sells chocolates, nuts, spices and cosmetics and caters exclusively to Bangladeshi customers, has seen sales plummet from Rs 3.5 lakh a day to Rs 35,000. "A few customers who are here on medical visas visit the shop. But trippers or those who purchased goods from New Market and sold them in Dhaka have ceased completely," said shop-owner Md Shahabuddin.

Ajoy Shaw, the fifth-generation owner of cosmetics shop Royal Store, said the situation was dire for not only the 124-year-old shop but the entire market. "The profile of the market changed around 2008-09 when local customers dipped. New Market then became popular among Bangladeshis and nearly all shops started catering to their demands and tastes. But following the trouble in Bangladesh and the visa issue, customer footfall has plunged. We would get 25-30 Bangladeshi customers daily with average spending at Rs 15,000. Now, we hardly get five Bangladeshis in a day and their spend has dipped to Rs 10,000," said Shaw.