Days before Durga Puja, businesses in Calcutta are counting mounting losses.

Shoppers are few, diners fewer, traffic is awry — a pervading atmosphere of glum carries with it ominous signs for a festival season, said hundreds of people whose year’s earnings depend on these two months.

A Gariahat sari store, whose weekend business during this time last year was ₹4 lakh, clocked less than ₹1 lakh this weekend.

A New Market store known for its biryani sees 1,000 plates in a day in the run-up to Puja. This year it is barely selling 600 plates.

Such examples are aplenty and business veterans could not recall another instance when the festival business had been hit this hard.

“Only Covid was worse. But then that was beyond human control,” said Anup Kumar Saha, 75, the owner of Benarasi Hut in Gariahat.

“This time, there is an attempt to hit our business. What has happened at RG Kar is barbaric and the culprits deserve exemplary punishment. But boycotting Durga Puja is not the solution. Many people, like my employees, look forward to these two months for brisk sales, which means increased income for them,” said Saha.

Another store in Gariahat, Benarasi Kunja, sells around 200 saris each on a pre-Puja weekend. “We sold barely 50 saris over this weekend,” said Arindam Saha, a co-owner of the store.

At least two road blockades were reported from Gariahat on Sunday. “We have a WhatsApp group for customers. A couple of customers who said they wanted to visit the store in the afternoon changed their mind after seeing the protests on TV,” said Saha.

The food and beverage sector is among the worst hit.

Debaditya Chaudhury, co-owner of the Chowman and Oudh chain of restaurants that together have over 50 outlets in Calcutta, is usually busy planning to hire more hands this time of the year. This year, hiring is on hold for now. Worse, he is worried about being able to give the Puja bonus to his employees if the situation does not improve.

“There is a dip of over 30 per cent in business. The number of diners has plunged. Online orders have also dipped significantly. This weekend, tables were empty even at some of our busiest outlets,” said Chaudhuri.

Sudesh Poddar, the president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India and the owner of Manthan, Songhai and MS Bar and Lounge, said most restaurants reported a “50 per cent loss” for the past eight to 10 days.

“Our industry is made or broken by consumer sentiment. That sentiment seems down now,” he said.

Some of the old favourites have also not been immune to the general sense of glum.

“Sunday saw a sharp dip in the number of diners,” said Anand Puri, the owner of Trincas on Park Street.

“A lot of people are feeling guilty about going out for a meal, buying new stuff and having a good time. A lot of peer pressure is also keeping them away,” he said.

A group, including junior doctors, held a protest near South City Mall on Sunday. A flash mob tried to enter the mall with protest banners and placards but were notallowed in.

“The footfall was on the lower side on the weekend. Most retailers had already piled up on Puja stock, expecting a bumper festive season, before the RG Kar incident happened. Now, there is a genuine fear of stock lying unsold,” said Man Mohan Bagree, vice-president, South City group.

At New Market, missing were the continuous streams of people who kept moving in and out of Humayun Kabir Sarani and Lindsay Street.

The New Market outlet of Aminia usually sees 1,000 plates of biryani sold every day a month before Puja. Now, it has come down to barely 600.

“A large number of diners are people who come to New Market for Puja shopping. The shoppers are absent now,” he said.

There were much fewer cars on the road on Saturday and Sunday than are usually seen on a pre-Puja weekend, said sources in the traffic police.

A resident of Ultadanga had planned to take her mother out for shopping, followed by dinner, on Sunday evening. She had asked for a driver from an agency.

“But after watching the series of protests that swept the city, I decided against going out,” said the 34-year-old woman, who requested not to be named.