From Our Correspodent
Agartala: Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) RK Singh and Bangladesh Home Secretary Manjur Alam will be arriving here on a whirlwind visit on Monday, according to official sources here.
Singh and Alam will arrive at Akhaura Check Post around 11 am and have a meeting to review the progress of Akhaura Integrated Land Port.
The then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram laid the foundation stone for setting up an Integrated Land Port at Akhaura Check Post to pave the way for better bilateral trade with Bangladesh.
Thereafter, an agency has been tasked to set up the ILP with all modern facilities. However, the progress of the work is very tardy.
According to sources, in the sideline of the review meeting, some important issues may come up for discussion. The most important issue before the state is fencing work along the Zero Line in some specific areas.
It is expected that the state government would take up the issue during the meeting. It may be noted that Chief Secretary SK Pandia had a meeting with DGP SK Sinha at Civil Secretariat.
It may noted that border guards of India and Bangladesh had made a joint inspection of 21 patches along the Indo-Bangla international border in West district where India proposes to construct single row fencing.
BSF sources said although 80 percent of the 856 km-long border with Bangladesh in Tripura had been fenced to check infiltration and smuggling, there were 61 patches in the state where fencing could not be erected due to resistance of locals on the plea that it would cause damage to properties like houses, temples and water bodies.
A double-row barbed wire fencing was constructed 150 yards away from the zero-line of the border to adhere to the Indira-Mujib pact of 1975.
BBG officials said thatIndia’s proposal to construct the single row fencing near the zero-line would be placed before the Bangladeshgovernment for decision-making. It was likely that another meeting between the BSF and BGB would be held next month for review of the progress.
The BSF, which is the nodal agency for construction of barbed wire fencing, has set a target of completion of the fencing by next year.