Char haats on Brahmaputra river bed
Char haat, a weekly market, is a place where char farmers sell their produces at a low price and buy the essentials at a high cost.
Farmers said there are 12 such Char haats located at different river basin villages on the Brahmaputra river bed in Kurigram.
Usually, most of the char haats take place twice a week, where trading goes on from early morning till noon.
A number of char farmers said they sell their products at low prices in the char haats as it is quite difficult for them to carry the agricultural goods on foot and sell those to the mainland markets.
On the other hand, farmers buy seeds, fertiliser, diesel, pesticides and other essentials like sarees, lungis and all kinds of clothes and cosmetics from the char haats at high prices.
They, however, prefer to sell their cows, goats, horses and buffaloes to the mainland markets.
Traders at char haats said they purchase different items from char farmers at a cheaper price as it costs them Tk 100 to Tk 120 to transport each maund of goods from char markets to the mainland.
Horse-drawn vehicles are the only mode of transportation as each horse cart can carry 12 to 15 maunds of goods, they said.
Farmer Dilu Sheikh, who came to Jorgachh Haat in Chilmari upazila, said as they have to walk a long way through the sandy land to go to the mainland market, they were compel to sell their produces at the char haat and that too at a low price.
Farmer Nuru Mandal, who came to Jatrapur Haat in Sadar upazila, said they prefer to sell their products at char haat as buyers from different areas come here to buy and sell their goods.
Trader Jobaidul Haque said every char haat on the Brahmaputra river bed runs for four to five months during the dry season every year.
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