Maheshwar Dharami, 38, was frying kachouri at a rickety food stall near the Bakkhali bus stand on a cloudy morning. He was busy as customers were waiting to have kachouris for breakfast.

Maheshwar eagerly waits for such weekends when a few hundred tourists arrive at this seaside hamlet in the South 24-Parganas district that helps him earn a living for the whole month.

Originally a sculptor, Maheshwar, a commercial artist in Mumbai till 2017, returned to his home town Bakkhali to start a food stall. He expected that the serene hamlet, which was once famous for its long stretch of sand beach up to Fraserganj, would help him live a decent life.

The journey to the hamlet was difficult in 2017 as the bridge over the Hatania-Doania river was not there. Tourists would travel to Namkhana and cross the river on vessels to reach Bakkhali.

With a regular flow of tourists and Maheshwar offering them breakfast items, the high volume of sales ensured a smooth living

Maheshwar's daughter met with a serious road accident in 2017 and that was the beginning of his livelihood challenge.

The inauguration of the cable-stayed Rs 226-crore bridge over the Hatania-Doania river in 2019 connected Namkhana with Bakkhali, facilitating direct access for tourists from Calcutta. The bridge also promised a brighter earning.

"With the inauguration of the 340-metre-long bridge, we were told that Bakkhali would be bubbling with economic activities with an increase in tourist footfall.… But nothing happened in the real term,” said Maheshwar.

Bakkhali doesn't draw tourists even five years after the bridge was opened, unlike Digha, Mandarmani or Tajpur.

Maheshwar said: “Bakkhali is dying and many like me share its fate. Bakkhali has lost much of its attraction after it lost its alignment with the sea following the emergence of a char (alluvial land).”

“The long rolling sea waves do not hit the beach anymore. Sea waves attract tourists and thus their preference for Digha or Puri over Bakkhali,” he added.

Not only Maheshwar but several others also echoed the same. “While the stretch of char is increasing daily, the state government is yet to take up dredging work,” said tea vendor Kinkar Manna.

Except for Saturdays and Sundays, which record the footfalls of a few hundred tourists, the 1,000 kiosks on Bakkhali beach — selling food, junk jewellery, and tea — do little business.

While a large section of the population is involved in deep-sea fishing, around 10,000 people depend solely on tourism in Bakkhali. However, an alarming fall in the regular flow of tourists has affected Bakkhali's economy.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, when leaders of political parties are busy campaigning in the hamlet that falls under the Mathurapur Lok Sabha constituency, many people were surprised not to find Bakkhali’s development on their agendas.

“Political parties have been organising rallies here regularly. Green, red or saffron — all are taking credit of welfare schemes. But none offers any specific plan for tourism revival in Bakkhali,” said a toto operator, who claimed his monthly income seldom crossed ₹4,000.

Hotelier Debraj Jana said: “For the past five years, the sea alignment has been gradually shifting because of the increasing stretch of char. One has to walk around 1km across the beach to enjoy the rolling waves. It is quite unfortunate that the government has done nothing to remove the silt.”

Secretary of the Trinamool Congress's women’s wing in Bakkhali, Kanika Biswas, who runs an artefact shop near the bus stand, acknowledges the “lack of initiative” on the part of the government. “The absence of seawater because of the char is a big problem. There is little entertainment apart from a dry beach here.”