KATHMANDU: Traders have started quitting their businesses at Thamel area after they could not pay the rent for shutters.

The shops have been closed down for the last three months at Thamel, a tourist destination in the Kathmandu Valley.

Tourists have stopped visiting the area after the country imposed lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, both business and income went down due to the lack of tourists, forcing the businessmen to quit their businesses.

According to Dhruba Adhikari, General Secretary of Thamel Tourism Development Council, over 700 shutters have been closed down.

They quit their shops after they could not pay the rent which is very high and the income has gone down to zero.

These days the shops have opened but no businesses.  Coronavirus pandemic has seriously hit Thamel where 80 percent of customers are foreign tourists and 20 percent are domestic.