Another \\\'border haat\\\' opens by year end

Another 'border haat', a common marketplace for both Bangladeshis and Indians, is set to open before December next to boost bilateral trade, officials have said.
"The construction work on the Tarapur-Kamalasagor border haat will begin immediately and will be completed within next four months," a senior official of the ministry of commerce (MoC) told the FE.
The border haat will be constructed at Tarapur, Kasba in Brahmanbaria district and Kamalasagor of Sipahijala district in Tripura.
The construction work would begin in June and it was officially approved on permission from the ministries of commerce of both Bangladesh and India, he said.  
The cost of construction of the border market would be around Rs 24.4 million to be borne by India, sources concerned said.
The marketplace measuring 74 X 38 sq metres would be set up on two sides of the border, Mr Ahmed added.
"Construction work of the border haat will start as early as possible and will be completed in next three or four months. The decision was taken at the 3rd Joint Border Haat Management Committee (JBHMC) meeting between Bangladesh and India," Sohel Ahmed, assistant commissioner (land) and executive magistrate, Kasba, Brahmanbaria, told the FE Sunday.
The Border Security Force (BSF) of India would take necessary action to facilitate the construction work, he said adding that formal activities of the Taropur-Kamalsagor border market would be inaugurated on completion of the construction work.
Besides, both the sides are going to finalise the list of vendors of the haat. Similarly, the list of vendees will also be finalised before holding the next meeting of the JBHMC, sources said.
Trading in the market (haat) will take place once a week on Thursday among the people living within a stipulated radius of the border. They will sell and buy locally produced goods and crops. It will remain open from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm (BD time).
No local taxes would be imposed on the items to be sold there and currencies of both the countries would be acceptable, an official of the MoC said.
Initially over 16 items were short-listed for trading. The products include agricultural and horticultural crops, spices, forest products excluding timber, fish and dry fish, dairy and poultry products, cottage industry items, wooden furniture, handloom and handicraft items, etc.
The 3rd meeting of the JBHMC was held on May 21 last at Kamalasagar of Sipahijala district in Tripura. The next meeting will be held in the last week of this month in Bangladesh.
The first border haat was set up in 2012 at Kalaichar in Meghalaya.