Bhutan lockdown adds to Indian traders' woes -It is almost five months now that the entry of people other than the Bhutanese has stopped in the Himalayan country

Avijit Sinha & Anirban Choudhury | TT | Siliguri/Alipurduar | 14.08.20 : Bhutan’s indefinite nationwide lockdown starting Tuesday to contain Covid-19 has come as a second jolt for Indian traders near the Indo-Bhutan border who are already grappling with losses incurred from India’s lockdown.

In Bhutan, 12 more Covid-19 cases have been reported on Thursday, said sources, raising the number of infections to 128, though there are only 28 active cases in the country as the rest have recovered. 

It is almost five months now that the entry of people other than the Bhutanese has stopped in the Himalayan country. After the outbreak of the pandemic, only goods movement was allowed through the international borders of Bhutan.

According to the business fraternity in Jaigaon, the town in Alipurduar district of Bengal that sits on the other side of Bhutan’s commercial capital Phuentsholing, the slump started since March when India announced its lockdown. The Bhutan lockdown added to their woes, they said.

The major chunk of trade with Bhutan takes place through the Jaigaon-Phuentsholing section. The annual bilateral trade volume from the route alone is in excess of Rs 6,000 crore. Bhutan uses this trade route for another Rs 1,500 crore worth of export and import with other countries such as Bangladesh.

Ramashankar Gupta, the secretary of Jaigaon Merchants’ Association, said those associated with tourism were the first to suffer.

“The halt in movement of people between India and Bhutan affected us as hundreds of tourists would previously arrive in Jaigaon every day, stay here and make purchases while on way to Bhutan or while returning home. Many businessmen supplied to hotels and resorts in Bhutan. All these stopped since March. We were somehow surviving as goods transport was open. But this Bhutan lockdown is a fresh blow,” said Gupta. 

A country with a population of 7.5 lakh, Bhutan saw 3.15 lakh tourists in 2019, says the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB), of whom 2.3 lakh or 73 per cent were from India. Another survey by the TCB on outbound visitors —Bhutanese tourists — cites that 75.7 per cent have visited India.

Bhutan mainly exports traditional dresses and ornaments, honey, ginger and milk products through Jaigaon, while it imports vegetables, food grains, medicines, textiles and tea from India, sources said.

Suresh Thakuri, president, Jaigaon Travellers’ Welfare Association, said they did not know when things would be normal. “We are keeping fingers crossed and really don’t know when things will be back to normal. Some of us had started sending supplies to Bhutan, but now that Bhutan is under lockdown we don’t know how to make ends meet.”

The Bhutan government, which had taken up the task to trace people who came in touch with a young woman who recently tested positive in Gelephu, has found she had 421 primary contacts, sources said. The 12 who tested positive are among the 421, but testing of many contacts is underway.

(Courtesy & source- https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/bhutan-lockdown-adds-to-indian-traders-woes/cid/1789087)