UNB: Chhagalnaiya-Srinagar (India) border haat in Feni district will reopen on May 9 after remaining closed for three years.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Bangladesh-India management committee on Wednesday evening.
Additional District Magistrate of Feni Abhishek Das, Chhagalnaiya Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO)Moumita Das, Officer-in-Charge of Chhagalnaiya Police Station Sudip Roy and Additional District Magistrate of South Tripura Of India Asim Saha were present at the meeting.
The country’s third border haat was opened in 2015 on the Madhuram border of Chhagalnaiya in Feni and Srinagar in India. As many as 54 traders from Bangladesh and India will sell domestic products every Tuesday.
The haat was closed on March 3, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Later, the management committees of the two countries shut it down for an indefinite period.
The haat was, on one hand, a bustling place for trade between the two countries and on the other hand, it was a place where people from two sides used to gather to buy goods. The poor people of the Indo-Bangladesh border areas were building a livelihood around the haat.
The traders and buyers of the haat are now happy with the news of the reopening of the haat.
Ataur Rahman, general secretary of the Border Haat Bangladesh Traders Association, said the opening of the border haat will increase the trade and commerce between the two countries and strengthen relations.
“However, there are many complaints including restricting the entry of Indian buyers, limiting the sale of domestic goods in India, and non-cooperation from the Indian administration. I have asked the management committee to resolve the issues,” he said.
In the meeting, the representatives of both countries decided to continue strict monitoring of the market to ensure security, prevent smuggling and stop harassment of buyers and sellers.
Mohammad Shahajan, a trader at the border haat, said Indian cosmetics are sold in the haat outside the products specified. However, fish, shoots, bakeries and plastic products are sold in the Bangladeshi haat.
Feni Additional District Magistrate Abhishek Das said, “The border haat will sit every Tuesday from 10 am to 4 pm as it was before. The entry tickets of 1,000 buyers will be sold on the day before the haat is set up.”
“There will be 27 designated vendors from each country and 54 designated vendors will sell their products,” he said.
 border haat in Feni district will reopen on May 9 after remaining closed for three years. The decision was taken at a meeting){kind=link}