Border fencing work to be prolonged: BSF

SHILLONG: The long-pending fencing of the Indo-Bangla international border in the Meghalaya sector is likely to take over a year more to complete.
A BSF PRO on Tuesday asserted that the fencing work has been completed in all the battalions except for Dawki area where around 65 -70 km of the border is yet to be fenced. Fencing work is also on in Ratacherra area in East Jaintia Hills.
Fencing of the international border in Meghalaya has been delayed due to the opposition from land owners and pressure groups.
Though the Supreme Court had, in December last year, directed the Centre to complete fencing work along the Indo-Bangla border within three months to check cross-border infiltration from Bangladesh, land acquisition hurdles in the State have prevented parts of the International border along Khasi and Jaintia Hills from being fenced.
The land owners and pressure groups are opposed to the Centre’s decision to construct the border fence 150 yards inside the Zero Line in Indian territory. They have demanded that the fence should come up right on the Zero Line to prevent loss of arable land.
The BSF PRO lamented that MeECL has not been able to provide power in the border areas and BSF was forced to use its own generators during the peak periods.
“We use our generators for only 2-3 hours since they cannot provide us power whole night,” the BSF official said.