The unrest in Bangladesh has left several hundred in Bongaon, a small town in North 24-Parganas, more than 100km north of Calcutta, wondering about their survival.

Money changers, hoteliers, godown owners, car rental agencies, transporters, drivers and labourers — almost everyone who makes a living out of the trade and immigration gateway with Bangladesh across the Petrapole border in this town are uncertain about what’s in store over the next few months till the elections in February.

“Just a few months ago, we were seeing an average of about 450 people at our counters, but by the end of last week, there were only seven to eight,” said Ratan Ghosh, a currency exchanger based in Petrapole. “If the flow of customers halts, they will not require currency exchange, and we will have no choice but to cease our operations,” the Bonagon resident stated.

The flow of trucks to Bangladesh has been reduced to a trickle since violence gripped Dhaka following the death of youth leader Sharif Osman Bin Hadi.

There was no movement of trucks on Friday. On Saturday, a few who had been waiting at the border since Thursday rolled on to enter Benapole with their consignments. The number of visitors to India through the immigration checkpost was negligible during the day compared to what it would be even a few months back, exchangers said.

Fewer visitors reaching India from Benapole means less business for car rental agencies in Bongaon, who thrive on ferrying visitors from the border town to Calcutta and its neighbouring areas every day.

“We have a fleet of around 100 vehicles. There have been days when our drivers would be forced to make two trips to Calcutta. Now, most of the cars are idling. The bookings have been dwindling for some time, and over the last two days, there have been a few,” said Mikail Mandal, a resident of Haridaspur in Bongaon and the owner of a car rental agency.

“Some visitors would rent a car from Bongaon to reach either the airport or Howrah station for their onward journeys to Chennai and Vellore. Others would hire a vehicle for Mukundapur or New Market in Calcutta,” he said.

Once a bustling hub, Bongaon was dotted with godowns where transporters would unload their goods and wait for their turn to find a slot when the goods could be carried across the border.

The smaller ones would be located on the ground floor of houses along Jessore Road, and the larger ones would be situated closer to the border.

Since trailers replaced trucks carrying goods for export from different states, the smaller godowns dried up. The larger godowns, measuring 12,000 to 14,000 square feet, were shifted to a separate complex with parking lots.

“There are some 60 such godowns in Bongaon where transporters, drivers, and labourers remain busy in cargo handling through the Petrapole border. This hub has been lying silent for the last few days,” said Arun Saha, one of the owners. “Trailers carrying minerals from Rajasthan and raw cotton from Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh would crowd the godowns. There has been hardly any movement in the last few days,” he said.