Bangladesh-India border haat in Tripura set to reopen in July

The Kamalasagar-Kasba border haat, a weekly market situated in Tripura's Sepahijala district along the Bangladesh-India border, is expected to resume operations by next month, Indian media reported on Tuesday (6 June) quoting an official concerned. This market was closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now preparations are underway to reopen it.

In May, the border haat at Srinagar in South Tripura's Sabroom subdivision, India, had already been reopened, reestablishing cross-border trade activities. Encouraged by this development, the joint border haat management committee convened a meeting at Kasba yesterday to discuss reopening the Kamalasagar-Kasba border haat as soon as possible. During the meeting, it was decided that repair work would be undertaken at the haat prior to its reopening.

Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Bishalgarh, India, Binoy Bhusan Das, shared the details over a telephone conversation with Press Trust of India (PTI), stating, "Today, the joint border haat management committee held a meeting at Kasba and discussed reopening the trade facility at the earliest. In the meeting, the committee decided to undertake repair work at the haat before reopening it."

To assess the extent of repairs required, a joint team comprising representatives from Bangladesh and India will visit the Kamalasagar-Kasba border haat next week. The team will prepare an estimate of the repair works needed for the haat's restoration.

"Once the repair jobs are completed, a joint inspection will be conducted in the first week of July to take a final call on the reopening of the border haat," revealed SDM Binoy Bhusan Das.

He said, "The Bangladesh delegation was positive on reopening the border haat, and we are hopeful to do it by the last week of July. There has been a growing demand for the immediate reopening of the Kamalasagar-Kasba border haat."

With both sides eager to resume cross-border trade activities, the reopening of the Kamalasagar-Kasba border haat in Tripura is expected to bolster economic exchanges and further strengthen the friendly relations between the two neighbouring countries.