When the pavement stalls in Gariahat reopened on May 27, the hawkers were asked to follow the odd-even formula of opening shops on alternate days to prevent overcrowding of shoppers.

After more than a month, a couple of strolls down Gariahat suggested the fear was exaggerated. The count of shoppers did not touch double digits.

On a rough estimate, three in five stalls were shut — not because of the odd-even formula but because of the absence of shoppers. Many stalls were also shut because the hawkers lived in the suburbs and the suspension of train services prevented them from coming to the city.

Madan Yadav, a hawker, was chatting with an auto driver, around 15ft from his stall that sold trinkets, hairbands and clips. Asked about the possibility of someone lifting an item from his store, the 45-year-old said: “Chor o aschhe na akhon (even thieves are not coming this way)”.

Before the lockdown, Yadav sold stuff worth Rs 800 on a bad day. For a little over a week that he had re-opened, his daily average was “under Rs 200”. Yadav lamented that one day “there was not a single customer”.

Yadav linked the slump to the closure of schools and colleges. “My shoppers are mostly school and college girls. Since all the institutions are shut, there is hardly any customer,” said the Kasba resident.

Almost all hawkers at Gariahat share Yadav’s plight. The shopping district — that sells everything from crockery to junk jewellery to handbags to salwar suits — thrives on women, young and old.

“I don’t know when I will see them again,” said Sankar Roy Karmakar, who works at a stall selling kurtis and dupattas on the pavement in front of Traders Assembly. The 59-year-old lives in Baruipur, around 25km from Gariahat. Since the stall re-opened, he has been cycling between home and work.

In around 40 minutes spent in Gariahat, The Telegraph saw just one purchase — a middle-aged man buying a set of melamine plates.

Debasish Dey, who sold handbags, had sold one item between 10am and 2.30pm on Wednesday. “I am curtailing expenses, like having fish every day. I don’t know the last time I bought something for my wife,” said Dey, who also cycles from his home in Behala.

The hawkers know things are not going to improve anytime soon. The state government has said schools and colleges in Bengal will remain shut in July. “The coaching centres are also shut. These are difficult times. We are banking on Durga Puja to turn the tide,” said Tapas Dey, another hawker who sells handbags.