A merchant body in Cooch Behar has threatened to launch an indefinite business strike, alleging a lack of initiatives by the civic body in the district headquarters to address a slew of problems which the trading community has been facing.

The representatives of the Cooch Behar District Merchant Chamber of Commerce said on Saturday that if the Trinamool Congress-run Cooch Behar municipality didn’t take immediate steps to resolve the issues flagged by them, they would have no other option but to go on strike.

“The civic body has increased the mutation fee at an unprecedented rate. Many traders, especially small shop owners, are finding it difficult to get the mutation of their shops done because of the higher rate. We had urged the civic authorities to reduce the rate but nothing has been done so far,” said Motilal Jain, the president of the trade body.

According to them, earlier, the mutation fee — to transfer the name of a shopowner to the next of kin or to a person who has bought the shop — was ₹100 to ₹200 per square foot.

“The rate now ranges from ₹4,000 to ₹6,000 per square foot. If the municipal authorities do not slash the rate in the next couple of days, we will be forced to go on an indefinite strike,” he added.

Added to it, trade licence, water tax and conservancy charges have also been increased by the civic body.

“On one hand, various rates have been increased. On the other hand, the marketplaces in the civic area lack amenities like washrooms, adequate illumination, proper roads and lanes, and fire safety measures. Nothing has been done by the municipality to meet these demands which we have mentioned time and again,” Jain said.

The town has seven-eight markets with 3,500 traders.

Rabindranath Ghosh, the civic chairman, said he would comment on the traders’ grievances on Monday. “We need to gather certain information before we comment on the demands,” he said.