Lockdown due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in West Bengal led to a complete shutdown of business activities and markets. As of now, it extends until mid-July 2021. For small traders and the general folk of South 24 Parganas district - a region very close to the Bay of Bengal and susceptible to storms - these are the hardest times they are going through.
For one, the lockdown reduced the number of customers who would buy from them. Secondly, the cyclone YAAS swept away their investments in goods that they stored in their shops. Some said they took loans to secure those goods and are now in huge debt. Another cyclone Amphan had hit the same district in May 2020 and people here had barely recovered from the destruction when another cyclone came knocking.
People from South 24 Parganas district expect the government to step in and provide them with relief.
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