AGARTALA: Tripura government has been waiting for a positive response from the end of
Bangladesh in order to resume Border Haats, closed since the first wave of the Covid pandemic.
Officials said it has been more than two years that the Haats are closed due to unavoidable circumstances prevailing during the pandemic.
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However, the central government has already approved reopening the haats but a positive response from the end of Bangladesh authorities is still awaited.
Speaking on the issue, Director Tripura Industries and Commerce department Swapna Debnath said, “The Central government has already given all the necessary approvals to open the border marts as soon as possible. District administrations are the custodians for management and supervision of these marts. What we have learnt from the district level border haat management committees is that they are still waiting for a positive nod from the end of their Bangladesh counterpart to reopen the bordering trade points”.
Debnath also informed this reporter that apart from existing two border haats, steps are afoot to open two more border haats in Dharmanagar and Kamalpur.
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The existing ones are located at Kamalasagar and Srinagar under Sepahijala and South Tripura districts respectively.
Speaking on the issue, District Magistrate Sepahijala Vishwasree B said that the district administration was in talks with the Bangladesh counterpart to expedite the process of resuming operations of the marts.
“The Border management committee is headed by the Additional District Magistrate of the district. So far, I know, the matter has been taken up with the Bangladesh authorities once a green light is shown from the Bangladesh side. A joint inspection will be carried out and then only the operations will resume”, she added.
Sources also said that in Meghalaya border haats have already been opened and the matter would be taken care of here in the state as well.