MHA directs demolition of illegal structures within 15 km of int’l border

NEW DELHI, May 27: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed authorities to strictly enforce a “zero tolerance” policy against illegal constructions within 15 km of the country’s borders and demolish all such structures that have come up over the years.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has assigned enhanced responsibility to district magistrates to ensure legal and financial compliance of banking transactions in border areas by all banks, verify major business establishments, examine their funding sources, track mule accounts and shell companies, identify fake Aadhaar cards, and curb cross-border smuggling, officials said.
Chairing a security review meeting in Bikaner on Tuesday, Shah assessed security-related issues concerning the border districts of Rajasthan along the Indo-Pakistan border.
In a statement, the MHA said the border districts had been directed to carry out an in-depth study of the sources, patterns and networks behind crimes and the drug menace, and to develop lasting solutions so that these problems do not resurface. Shah stressed the need to formulate a 360-degree security cover for every border district involving citizens, the state machinery and security agencies.
The home minister called for strict enforcement of the zero tolerance policy against illegal constructions, particularly within 0 to 15 km of the international borders, and ordered the demolition of all such structures, officials said.
He underscored the importance of a coordinated approach to border management involving the BSF, CBDT, NCB and the state machinery to address issues of infiltration, narcotics smuggling, encroachment, terror financing and other trans-border crimes.
At the meeting, Shah also directed officials to ensure 100 per cent saturation of all government schemes in border villages and called for the effective use of the ‘1930’ call centre to tackle cybercrimes. (PTI)