Hotel crisis forces Bangladeshis to sleep on Kolkata pavements

Bangladeshi patients and their relatives arriving in Kolkata for medical treatment are now facing an acute accommodation crisis. With hotels and guesthouses in the New Market and Free School Street areas shutting down one after another, finding a place to stay near hospitals has become extremely difficult.

As a result, many are being forced to spend the night on roadside pavements, on footpaths, or under the open sky with their luggage unsafe. Poor patients and their attendants coming from remote districts of West Bengal for treatment are facing the same predicament.

On the early morning of August 19, a devastating fire at the Shikha Inn Hotel on Mirza Ghalib Street claimed nine lives. Following the incident, questions were raised about safety measures, prompting authorities to launch inspections across various hotels and guesthouses in Kolkata. Hotels in the New Market and surrounding areas that did not comply with fire safety and building regulations are being shut down.

In central Kolkata alone, more than 50 hotels have already been closed. Many others have been issued notices and show-cause notices. According to a report, the crackdown over the past few days has reduced the total number of hotel rooms by nearly 1,500.

The worst affected by this situation are patients coming for treatment. Cancer patients, in particular, require accommodation close to the hospital for regular care. For many families, traveling from a distant hotel every day is simply not feasible.

Consequently, the area around the Thakurpukur Cancer Treatment Center is also seeing a surge in patients and attendants. However, affordable accommodation options there are extremely limited, while staying in expensive hotels is beyond the means of many families.

Atif Masud, a relative of a Bangladeshi patient, said that commuting long distances with a patient undergoing chemotherapy is extremely difficult. Another Bangladeshi national stated on Friday that despite arriving in Kolkata on a valid visa for medical treatment, their inability to find accommodation has left them deeply frustrated.

A woman from Assam shared that while her patient remains hospitalized, she is forced to wander the streets searching for a place to stay, with no access to washroom facilities either.

However, the problem is not limited to Bangladeshis. Underprivileged patients and their families coming from remote areas of West Bengal are also facing the same crisis.

They argue that unsafe hotels should certainly be closed in the interest of safety. However, without alternative accommodation arrangements, it is the sick patients who will suffer the most.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Kolkata has advised Bangladeshi citizens to confirm their hotel bookings before traveling to Kolkata.