Shillong, Oct 08: Meghalaya government has asked the Centre to reopen 64 border 'haats' closed for over 30 years along the Bangladesh border to facilitate bilateral trade between the two neighbouring countries. The border haats which existed since the pre-independence period along the International Border with Bangladesh had to be closed down after the country attained its independence.

The closing of 'haats' dealt a severe blow to the economy of the border areas of the state and the business activities of the people came to a 'standstill' although 'informal trade' continued without contributing anything to the state exchequer, state Chief Minister D D Lapang told Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani during their meeting in Delhi yesterday.

Meghalaya has a border of 423 km with Bangladesh. It was earlier proposed to allow all the 64 'haats' to be reopened but the government later indicated that only five 'haats' would be allowed to be reopened in five Meghalaya districts bordering Bangladesh, official sources said here today.

Lapang said the matter was still pending with Delhi and urged Advani to take up the matter with the commerce and External Affairs Ministry in this regard.

The Chief Minister also requested the Centre to upgrade the Umroi Airport, near here, which was suitable for operation of 50 seater aircraft only. "It is essential to improve and upgrade the airport so as to enable bigger aircraft to operate in future," lapang urged Advani for taking up the matter with the concerned ministry.

Bureau Report