After being closed due to the COVID pandemic for nearly three years, the Srinagar-Chhagalnaiya border haat in the South Tripura district reopened on Tuesday. Border Haat in South Tripura is based in the Poang Bari Block of the Sabroom Sub-Divison in Srinagar.

Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of South Tripura Dhanbabu Reang and ADM of Bangladesh’s Feni district Abhishek Das visited the area as standard trade resumed.

Due to the pandemic, two border haats — Srinagar-Chhagalnaiya in South Tripura and Kamalasagar in Sepahijala district — were shut. The Kamalasagar border haat is yet to be reopened.

“The resumption of the haat will boost the economic condition of the people living within a 5 km radius of the border. They will come and sell their produce. The government wants the border haats to function as usual for the welfare of the villagers,” Das told reporters.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Sabroom Bidhan Chandra Das said the haat would be open every Tuesday from 10 am to 4 pm amid tight security of the BSF.

Note that Srinagar Border Haat was opened in January 2015 but was shut down in March 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, he said, Twenty-seven vendors from each side of the border will participate in the haat. The decision to reopen the haat was taken at a meeting between India and Bangladesh last month.

Border Haat is a special marketplace located exactly on the Zero line between India and Bangladesh, where both Indian and Bangladeshi citizens of the nearby area can visit and purchase goods from vendors, who are also from both countries in equal numbers. All the transactions here are Tax-free.