Kolkata: A fatal pre-dawn fire at Shikha Inn in a building on Mirza Ghalib Street that claimed nine lives, including five Bangladeshi nationals, has prompted a section of foreign tourists to cut short their Kolkata stays, while prospective visitors across the border have deferred their travel plans to Kolkata.Local travel agents and hotel associations along Marquis Street, Sudder Street, Collin Street and the New Market area confirmed that while several tourists are leaving early, a notable number of scheduled visits for the coming days have been deferred.The fire occurred around 1.40 am on Wednesday inside Shikha Inn, a lodge operating on the second floor of a five-storey mixed-use building at 15G Mirza Ghalib Street.The tragedy has sent waves of anxiety across the border, prompting panicking relatives in Bangladesh to urge family members currently staying in Kolkata to wrap up their visits and return immediately.“After seeing the news of the fire and the deaths of five Bangladeshis, my wife and parents have been calling me up and telling me to return home,” said Md Khurshid Alom, a resident of Pabna in Bangladesh, who was staying in the same building during the fire and subsequently relocated to another hotel on Marquis Street. “I am here on business. I am trying to finish my work and leave by Friday afternoon. I will be back soon though,” said Khurshid.Following the incident, Kolkata Police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to trace the building owner, Bireswar Mitra, while the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) launched a five-member team to conduct fire audits of lodges citywide. State fire minister Kaushik Chowdhury noted that the establishment lacked basic fire safety measures and necessary operational permits.Many tourists expressed a desire to avoid being caught in any post-fire crackdown by the administration. On Wednesday, some of the tourists staying in different hotels inside 15G Mirza Ghalib Street were requested to delay their departure by a day. Many of them boarded the bus back home on Thursday.“We do not want to be stuck in any administrative crackdown on hotels in the area. It is better to leave and return when things return to normal,” said Ismail Sarkar, a resident of Dhaka.Travel agents said that they have been approached by many tourists requesting return tickets in the next few days. “The fire incident has shaken up several tourists. They now want to leave and return home. They have told us to process their return tickets,” said Gopal Manna, a travel agent.Stakeholders warn that this sudden drop in footfall might derail the financial recovery in Kolkata’s ‘Mini Bangladesh’. The neighbourhood’s commercial ecosystem had only recently begun to recover after four years of disruption caused by the pandemic and recent political instability in Bangladesh. Daily footfalls had dropped from a historical average of 8,000 down to barely 1,000 before visa relaxations in July offered temporary relief.—
