Dhaka, Bangladesh (CU)_ According to Industries and Commerce Minister Manoj Kanti Deb’s statement, Tripura government has asked the Bangladesh government to reopen the two border haats beginning from March 26 that were closed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of the pandemic, the border haats located in Srinagar in the South district and Kamalasagar in the Sepahijala district have been closed from 23 March 2020.
Border haats are domestic marketplaces located along the India-Bangladesh border which allow small-scale trading. Visualized as a confidence-building measure between the two countries, the four border haats were established between 2011 and 2015. The two haats are located in Meghalaya and two are in Tripura.
In response to a notice made in the Assembly by Shankar Das of Bharatiya Janata Party, Deb said, “Earlier we requested them (Bangladesh) in March last year to reopen the border haats with adherence to Covid-19 guidelines after the union minister for commerce asked to reopen the border haats in June, 2020. But the haats could not be reopened due to prevalence of the Covid-19 in Bangladesh. Hope, the haats can be reopened with approval of the Bangladesh authorities”.
In addition to the two border haats, a third haat was inaugurated this year in Kamalpur, Dhalai district, and a base for the fourth haat will soon begin in Dharmanagar, North District. At present, India’s annual exports of a list of commodities and materials are worth INR 100 crore via Tripura to Bangladesh and annual import goods are worth INR 600 crore.
