Monday, December 6, 2010

Joint Survey of disputed Indo-Bangla Border from Dec 7

From Outlook.India
SHILLONG |  DEC 05, 2010

A joint survey of the disputed border along Bangladesh-Meghalaya will begin on December 7, an exercise after completion of which the neighbouring country is expected to give its nod to the fencing project in the patches to which it had been objecting.

Land records officials of Bangladesh and India set the programme at a joint preparatory meeting last week at Tamabil check post near Dawki in Meghalaya, official sources said.

The verification, beginning at the Sylhet-Meghalaya border, will be conducted by the Land Records departments of Bangladesh and Meghalaya in at least 31 patches.

The decision for the joint verification was taken last September during a meeting between top Indian and Bangladesh officials at Dhaka to resolve the nagging disputes over the border areas like Dibir haor, Sripur, Tamabil, Sonarhat, Bichnakandi, Protappur and Lalakhal in Sylhet with the Indian state of Meghalaya.

Border guards of both the countries have been locked in gun battles time and again on those frontiers over possession of the stretches, leading to fleeing of locals.

While the initial phase of the verification would be carried out by Meghalaya government officials, the second leg would comprise central government representatives.

“Bangladesh government has been objecting to the fencing in these patches as the proposed alignment of the fencing is within 150 yards from zero line. The fencing cannot be erected at 150 yards due to terrain constraints,” a BSF official said.

He said the Indian side impressed upon their Bangladeshi counterparts that a ‘single channel’ fence would be erected instead of the double barbed fence and that too not close to the zero line.

Officials said of the 571 km of the sanctioned fencing work on the Bangladesh border of Assam and Meghalaya, only 248 km has been completed.

“Work is in progress in 123 km, while there have been objections either from Meghalaya or from Bangladesh in the remaining stretches,” they said.

No comments:

Post a Comment