Border fencing necessary but not at the cost of people: Rymbui

SHILLONG: Meghalaya Border Area Development Minister Lakmen Rymbui has said that while fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the state is needed but it should not be at the cost of the people.
Rymbui’s statement comes in the backdrop of residents and NGOs alike in the state demanding that the fencing should be erected along the zero line and not 150 yards inside the Indian territory.
“We need border fencing but not at the cost of the people,” Rymbui said.
Meghalaya shares a 443-km stretch of the international border of which more than a 100 kms is yet to be fenced due to opposition from NGOs.
Rymbui said that border fencing is a very sensitive issue as people love their land and would not want to part with it but which they would have to if the fencing were to be erected 150 yards inside their territory. This would take away a large chunk of their cultivable land where they grow betel nut and paddy. It is for this reason they want the fencing to be along the zero line.
“We have to make people understand the benefits of border fencing,” the minister said.
He also informed that the state government has from time to time tried to impress upon the central government that if need be they should resurvey the land and that the fencing has to be done on the zero line.
“This is not a state subject and we can only convey to the Centre our point of view that whatever needs to be done should not be done at the cost of the people… it should not create hardship for them,” said Rymbui.