The area around Free School Street, in the heart of Kolkata, remains tense following the incident there. Many Bangladeshis are in the city for medical treatment or business, but the situation has still not returned to normal.
If anything, people’s hardship has only grown. Following a hotel fire in the New Market area, Bangladeshi patients and their relatives have been hit hardest. Many families, some accompanying cancer patients, are now spending nights on Kolkata’s footpaths.
It is not only Bangladeshis who are affected — people from various parts of West Bengal are facing the same problem, forced to sleep under the open sky as well. On Aug. 18, a devastating fire broke out at the “Shikha Inn” hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street, killing seven Bangladeshis and two Indians. The administration then took strict measures. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation sent notices to more than 700 hotels and guesthouses across the city. Citing non-compliance with regulations, authorities ordered these hotels to be vacated and banned them from taking in new guests. As a result, people from both Bengals are unable to find a place to stay. For the past several days, crowds of patients and relatives have been seen gathering at the Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital premises.
Many are spending nights by the roadside with their luggage in the rain. Unable to find hotel rooms, Bangladeshis are in deep distress. Some unscrupulous businesses are exploiting the crisis. One Dhaka resident said angrily, “Hotel owners are taking advantage and looting money — I will never come to Kolkata again.” The relative of another patient said, “Cancer is a complicated disease. Patients undergoing chemotherapy need to stay near the hospital. But now, unable to find a hotel, they are in tremendous distress.” Another Bangladeshi said they had come following all the proper rules, with a valid visa and having paid taxes, and that they should have been informed in advance if such a problem existed in Kolkata. One woman said her patient was admitted to the hospital while she herself was wandering the streets, and that the lack of any toilets in the area had made their suffering even worse.
Another Bangladeshi alleged that they were suddenly evicted from their hotel, and that reporting it to the local police station brought no help. Leaving the patient behind and returning home is also not an option. Treatment at Thakurpukur Hospital is relatively inexpensive, and nearby guesthouses are also affordable. But with those now shutting them out, patients have been left in dire straits. Staying at a large hotel for 3,000 to 4,000 rupees a day is simply not possible for many of them.
Jayanta Sau, a guesthouse owner in Thakurpukur, said that even if they wanted to, they could not accommodate critically ill patients. He said that just as people are evacuated to relief camps during a cyclone, the government should make similar temporary arrangements here. The Thakurpukur Cancer Research Centre has already extended a helping hand — despite limited space, it has arranged to house up to 55 people inside the hospital. But more than a hundred other people from India and Bangladesh are still spending their days on the street. They can neither return home with their patients nor find a hotel to stay in. Following the administration’s crackdown after the New Market incident, the suffering of these helpless people, who came for medical treatment, has now reached its peak.