Ministry of Home Affairs orders to completely seal the Assam-Bangladesh Border
After years of uncertainty that generated unrest and fuelled skepticism among a vast section of people of Assam, here’s finally a piece of information that will surely bring smiles to many a faces.
In a major development that augurs well for the State, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has finally decided to erect “physical and non-physical barriers” along those stretches of Assam-Bangladesh border that still remain open, meaning no fence has been erected.
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he MHA has sanctioned an amount of Rs 86.83 crore for the purpose and has set a target of March 31st 2019 to complete the “technological solution for border domination of Indo-Bangladesh border”.
The new equipments under both the physical and non-physical barriers include radars, water crafts, 3600 panoramic/fixed day/night cameras, sensors, control room with monitoring equipments, high mast lights, etc. The MHA will also install sensors along all new fence work to make them “smart fence”. A 3.696-km stretch of bridge/culvert areas will also be “physically plugged by improvised methods” by the Border Security Force.
Assam shares 263 km international border with Bangladesh, of which land border comprises 214.89 km, while the remaining 48.11 km stretch is river border. Fence has been erected along 201.51 km stretch, while 61.49 km of border is still open. The unfenced section comprises almost the entire river sector, besides a few land border sectors where fence could not be erected for a variety of reasons.
As per official records, 3.5-km stretch of Assam-Bangladesh border in Karimganj is pending for fencing due to objection by Border Guard Bangladesh. Similarly, 3 km in Lathitila-Dhumabari area has also not been fenced as it was un-demarcated till recently.
Now, the MHA’s move to erect “physical and non-physical barriers” will finally fulfil a long-standing demand of various organisations of Assam, besides the current dispensation in Dispur, to “seal” the entire Assam-Bangladesh border to prevent flow of illegal immigrants from the neighbouring country into the State.
After taking over the reins of the State, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited the frontier areas to see the state of affairs and expressed his disappointment at the how the international border was still open. He, thereafter, wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking handing over the entire fence construction to the Indian Army. He even sought taking up fence work afresh as per the “highest standards replacing the existing fencing”. Sonowal also sought application of “special advanced technology and engineering techniques” for fencing the river stretch in Dhubri sector “to ensure sealing of the Indo-Bangladesh border”.
However, having set a target date for completion of the project, it remains to be seen whether the MHA is able to meet the deadline of 31st March 2019. Incidentally, the next Lok Sabha election is also scheduled that year. And meeting the deadline will certain help the BJP-led coalition to endear itself towards the people of Assam.
http://sentinelassam.com/story/main...adesh-border/2017-10-02/1/321719#.WdG_sVuCwps