Our Bureau
Protests by Coordination Committee on International Border stalls fencing work
NEW DELHI/ SHILLONG: Following a spurt in trans-border crimes and infiltration, the Centre has asked the Meghalaya Government to expeditiously complete fencing of the controversial 70-km long unfenced Indo-Bangladesh border.
A Meghalaya Home department official on Wednesday said, however, the construction of fencing in the disputed areas could commence only after the ratification of the decision to exchange the areas of adverse possession along the Indo – Bangladesh border in Meghalaya.
The Union Home Ministry had pulled the Meghalaya government up for its slow approach to complete the fencing of the remaining part of the Bangladesh border which was stalled for local reasons.
Meghalaya shares a 443-km long border with Bangladesh, of which around 70 km are unfenced and run along terrains difficult to patrol.
According to the State Home department official, the issue figured two months ago in a review meeting held to discuss the matter.
Construction work in the stretch in Meghalaya had been suspended for long due to protests by the Coordination Committee on International Border (CCIB), mainly over land acquisition. The CCIB is a conglomerate of organisations like Khasi Students’ Union, Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People and headmen and representatives of villages along the border.
Bangladesh and India share a 2,429 mile-long international border, the fourth longest land border in the world. The Bangladeshi divisions of Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet and Chittagong, along with the states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are situated along the border.
A number of pillars mark the border between the two countries. Some demarcated portions of the border are fenced on both sides.
The border on the Indian side is crisscrossed by a large number of rivers and the area is mostly flat with moderately hilly terrains in Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura and Mizoram sections. The border area is densely populated and the land is extremely fertile, at times cultivated right up to the border pillars. Sometimes the border line passes right through villages, even buildings.
The vast and porous border is used as a route for smuggling livestock, food items, medicines and drugs from India to Bangladesh. Illegal immigrants from Bangladesh cross the border to India in search of a better life.