Agartala: Ignoring resistance from a section of villagers, the Sepahijala district administration has been instructed to go ahead with the ongoing barbed wire fencing between Kulubari and N C Nagar area of Sonamura in West Tripura.
The villagers have been demanding zero line fencing instead of 150 yard inside the Indian Territory for the past few years.
The fencing caused tension during the past four days.
Official sources here today stated that of the 80 km Indo-Bangladesh border, around 70 km border line has already been fenced while some patches along the border still remain unfenced due to local problems that have allegedly been used for smuggling.
After a long halt, Sonamura Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) had pushed the stalled barbed wire fencing work in some specific patches of the borderline following a meeting with the local people.
In the meeting, some villagers raised some unrealistic demands ostensibly to stall the work in their villages, officials said, adding that they demanded the fencing should come up along the zero line to save their property. However, the SDM rejected the demand saying that it could not be entertained.
The villagers also demanded full compensation for land which went outside the barbed fencing. However, the SDM did not give any assurance.
Panna Ahamed SDM Sonamura said, “The barbed wire fencing work between Kulubari and NC Nagar is continuing amidst tight security. We want to fence the unfenced borderline at the earliest. However, if villagers come with genuine demands, the administration will consider, otherwise, we shall go ahead with our plan of action.” (UNI)
