Meghalaya details union govt on non-completion of border fencing

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Government has appraised the Centre over non-completion of border fencing in certain stretches along the Indo-Bangladesh international border.
The State Government raised this matter during a review meeting with officials of the border management wing of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs led by Union Secretary Snehlata Kumar which was held in Shillong on Tuesday.
Official sources on Wednesday informed that the Meghalaya Government had given a detailed explanation on the hurdles in completion of the border fencing.
“We informed the Central officials that one of the major factors delaying completion of the border fencing work is the unwillingness of the local people to cooperate with the construction agencies because of the fear that they would lose major portion of their agricultural land once the fencing comes up,” the sources said.
A senior State official informed that they stressed on the need to ensure safety of the people and their land and also pointed out that some landowners wanted the border fencing to be located at the Zero Point.  “In response, the MHA official mooted the possibility of altering the timings for opening and closure of the gates along the border fencing to ensure that our people do not lose out on their precious harvests,” the official added.
Another point raised was the reclamation of forest land by the local residents who are willing to return the land provided compensation is granted to them.
“They are encroachers no doubt, but we cannot simply steamroll them into returning what is not theirs and mechanisms are being discussed to chalk out an amicable solution so that the forest land required for the international border fencing is retrieved,” the senior official informed.
The meeting also discussed at length on the need for adequate floodlighting along the entire stretch of the international border involving Meghalaya which elicited positive responses from the MHA official.