Third border haat opens on Jan 13

Bangladesh and India are expected to open another border haat on January 13 in a bid to boost trade.

This will be the third border haat between the two countries and first in Tripura, set up on the Indo-Bangla boundary at Srinagar in South district of the Indian state, about 140 kilometres each from its capital Agartala and Feni of Bangladesh.

Among the two previous haats, one is situated at Baliamari of Kurigram and Kalaichar in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district.

The other haat is at Lauwaghar (Dalora) in Sunamganj and India's Balat in East Khasi Hills district.

The work for setting up of necessary infrastructure of the haat at Srinagar was completed over a couple of months ago, and it was ready to be opened, said sources at the commerce and foreign ministries of Bangladesh.

Sources in Tripura said roads costing Rs 2.4 crore were built on the Indian side and commerce ministers of the two countries are invited to the inauguration programme likely to be on January 13.

The haat will remain open only a day every week from 10:00am to 4:00pm. People living within 5-kilometre radius of the haat will be allowed to sell and buy locally produced goods.

Initially, 16 items, including agricultural and horticultural crops, spices, minor forest products excluding timber, fish and dry fish, have been short-listed. 

The sources added that the work on another border haat at Kamalasagar in Tripura was underway and the haat would be ready to be open “very soon”. Indian Lok Sabha member Jitendra Chaudhury recently told a seminar in Kolkata that more than 100 border haats were required  currently along Bangladesh's boundary with the Indian state of Tripura.

"Our people are used to open border with Bangladesh and now with the barbed wire fencing, trade and exchanges are suffering. So people want border haats for local trade at all possible places," he said.

Diplomatic sources say India intends to set up 70 border markets along its frontier with Bangladesh and after discussion with Dhaka, it has identified 70 locations in its four border states.