Tripura government officials on Wednesday raided a ‘border haat (market)’ at Srinagar in south Tripura after receiving complaints that substandard and expired consumer items were being sold there. They have also taken samples of various perishable items, including fish, for laboratory tests.
The Srinagar-Chhagalnaiya (the latter in Bangladesh) border haat is one of two haats functioning on the zero lines of the International Border with Bangladesh in Tripura. The other is the Kamalasagar-Tarapur border haat in west Tripura.
Border markets typically involve trade in consumables, locally made handicrafts, and garments.
Sources in the State government said officials accompanied by the police and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel raided the Srinagar haat, about 130-km from Agartala, to check the products on sale. Samples were collected during the raid for lab tests. Samples of fish and dry fish were collected to determine if formaldehyde had been used to preserve them. The results of the tests are expected in a few days, officials said.
Work is underway to set up three more border haats at Raghna in north Tripura, Kamalpur in Dhalai district, and Nirbhaypur in Sepahijala district.
