"Ranjeet Kumar considers himself to be lucky to get any business from Nepal with the recent spate of violence in the neighbouring country. The 50-year-old runs a century-old shop of religious items in Raxaul in Bihar state in eastern India, barely 800 metres (about 2,600 feet) short of the country's border with Nepal, and the last market in the area."
"They came and went back quickly, he said. But most others have not been as fortunate. Arun Kumar Gupta, 55, a cloth trader in Raxaul, told Al Jazeera that his business came to a standstill during the violence, making it difficult to fund the salaries of his three employees. Over 90 percent of the businesses in markets bordering Nepal depend on Nepalese citizens, Gupta said."
Markets along the open India–Nepal border have emptied and consumer spending has fallen, severely affecting traders ahead of the festival season. Raxaul in Bihar hosts the last market near the border and many shops rely heavily on Nepalese customers. Religious-item seller Ranjeet Kumar reports sales declined after mass anticorruption protests began in Nepal on September 8, which killed 72 people and injured more than 2,000. The border was closed for a week during the violence, though some residents received permission for quick shopping trips. Other traders reported businesses coming to a standstill and difficulty paying employees. Over 90 percent of markets bordering Nepal depend on Nepalese shoppers. India and Nepal share a porous 1,750 km border with largely unrestricted cross-border travel.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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