Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Thursday laid the foundation stone for Kamalpur-Kurmaghat border haat between India and Bangladesh in Dhalai district and said the project would further boost trade relations between the two countries.
CM Deb said, “The cultural and emotional ties between India and Bangladesh would be strengthened by the foundation stone laying of the border haat at Kamalpur. I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina ji. This was possible due to efforts made by them”.
He added, “Along with boosting the trade between India and Bangladesh, the border haats will also strengthen our cultural ties”.
The CM said cultural and trade ties between India and Bangladesh began under the leadership of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and these are now furthered by his “worthy daughter Sheikh Hasina”. “Friendship between the two countries would be strengthened by this and I pray and believe both nations will progress in future”, Deb said.
Addressed the public present during the foundation stone laying ceremony of Kamalpur (India)-Kurmaghat (Bangladesh) border haat.
Everyone looked happy to witness the developmental works being done in #Tripura under the guidance of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji. pic.twitter.com/d8QH3Qje73
— Biplab Kumar Deb (@BjpBiplab) February 3, 2022
Tripura is considered to have a crucial role in Indo-Bangla friendship, since this state was at the heart of Bangladesh’s Liberation War against Pak atrocities in 1971. The state, which then had 16 lakh population, had sheltered 15 lakh East Pakistani refugees fleeing atrocities at home, apart from hosting training camps and shelters for Muktijoddhas (liberation warriors).
The third border haat of Tripura at Kamalpur would be spread over 75 square meters and is expected to be able to accommodate 100 vendors on each side. This Border Haat would be functional in addition to two border Haats already operational at Kamalasagar of Sipahijala district and Srinagar in South Tripura.
Earlier in February, 2020, India and Bangladesh authorities jointly identified locations for three additional border hats along the Tripura-Bangla frontiers at a joint DM-DC level meeting. The proposed locations at Paharmura of Khowai district, Jagarampur of Sepahijala and Bamutia of West Tripura district were submitted to the respective higher authorities for final call.
While the issue is being discussed at topmost levels, Tripura already had approval for launching two more border haats were at Raghna of Dharmanagar in North Tripura and Kamalpur in Dhalai districts in addition to two functional border haats of the state. The approved haat at Kamalpur saw foundation stone laying today while the one at North Tripura still awaits its turn.
Taking to Twitter later today, Deb wrote, “We have presented a proposal to make border haat at 8 places. Two of these border haat are operational already and two more have been approved. Kamalpur border haat will be inaugurated this year and foundation stone of Dharmanagar border haat will also be laid soon”.
In a separate tweet, Deb said Tripura is steadily marching ahead on the path of development and said work of the border haat would be done at maximum speed and it would be inaugurated shortly.
Border Haats are unique modes of duty-free trading space between the two countries where locally grown products are sold to people living within a radius of 5 Km of the Haat on specific days of the week. These hats were conceptualized to promote wellbeing of people from remote areas across borders of these two countries by establishing a traditional market of local products among them.
Reacting to the foundation stone laying of the new border haat, Tripura Chamber of Commerce and Industries president ML Debnath said border haats were found highly beneficial to develop village economy in bordering hamlets and said, “The more border haats are launched, the better it is for village economy on both sides. It is a very good initiative. More like this should be done”.
Debnath also said India currently exports a list of goods and materials to Bangladesh through Tripura worth Rs. 100 crores annually but imports materials worth Rs. 600 crores. The export volume from Tripura has increased in the last few years, since 2020 when the export quantum used to be Rs. 30 crores.
After a floating jetty was launched at Tripura’s Sonamura for Indo-Bangla inland waterway connectivity in 2020, Tripura CM Deb expressed hopes that with new transit routes, the state would be able to cut down on the border trade deficit and would be able to export Rs . 1200 crores of goods and import goods of Rs. 4200 crores within the next five years.
Tripura is expecting to experience international rail connectivity between Agartala city and Akhaura in Bangladesh soon. The international railway project which was conceptualized in 2010, was scheduled to be completed by 2020. The project was delayed due to several issues including COVID-19 pandemic; it is expected to be commissioned soon.
Tripura shares 856 km long international border with Bangladesh, 67 km of which is still unfenced in different patches, rendering the state vulnerable to chances of infiltration and illegal migration. Parts of the unfenced patches are now being worked upon. BSF authorities recently said eight pending gaps of Single Row Fence (SRF) were fully completed in 2021 and the gaps were plugged. Single Row Fencing (SRF) work is in progress in other stretches as well.
,