The West Bengal government has acquired around 300 acres of land along the Bangladesh border for fencing and construction of border pillars.
The acquisition, stuck for years, was done after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh shot off a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in June.
The delay in acquisition of land spread along the Bangladesh border was hindering the security grid planned by the Centre to stop illegal infiltration and cattle smuggling. India shares a 4,096-km border with Bangladesh of which 2,216 km falls in West Bengal.
Letters to other CMs
“The Home Minister had last reviewed the border-related works in May when he was told that the largest acquisition was to be done in West Bengal. He wrote to the West Bengal Chief Minister and sought her cooperation in expediting the work. Subsequently, 300 acres of land were acquired,” said a senior Home Ministry official.
Mr. Singh had also written to Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Bihar, which helped resolve pending issues related to the acquisition of land in the States along the International Border.
The Home Minister on Friday reviewed the progress of various projects being undertaken along the borders with China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. He was told that various border-related projects were delayed to lack of environmental clearances for construction.
Mr. Singh also reviewed the progress of ongoing projects being executed by the Land Ports Authority of India and the border management division under the Home Ministry. There was very good progress and Integrated Check Posts at five border-crossing points out of seven approved projects have been completed, an official statement said.
Terminals for smooth movement of goods and people at ICP Raxaul and ICP Jogbani on the India-Nepal border, ICP Petrapole and ICP Agartala on the India-Bangladesh border and ICP Attari on India-Pakistan border have been made functional. At each ICP, facilities have been constructed for customs clearance, immigration, warehouses for storage of goods, approach roads and terminal buildings to adequately handle import and export of goods and entry and exit of people.
Work on ICP Moreh on the India-Myanmar border and ICP Dawki on India-Bangladesh border is in an advanced stage of completion. The total approved expenditure for the seven ICPs is over ₹700 crore, the statement said.
The Home Minister also directed officials to take up construction of an additional 13 ICPs — Hili, Jaigaon, Ghojadanga, Mahadipur, Changrabandha, Fulbari, Rupaidiha, Kawrpuichhuah, Panitanki, Sutarkandi, Sunauli, Banbasa and Bhithamore — and the passenger terminal at Petrapole, the statement said.
Projects have been taken up for construction of 18 coastal border outposts (BOPs) in Gujarat and improvement of border floodlighting in Punjab and Rajasthan. Some floating BOPs have also been approved in Gujarat and West Bengal. To improve coastal security, 121 coastal police stations have been operationalised, 30 jetties constructed and biometric cards issued to 18.5 lakh fishermen, the statement said.
