West Bengal CM hands over land to BSF for Bangladesh border fencing
Targeting the previous Trinamool Congress government, Adhikari alleged it had failed to cooperate on border infrastructure because of “vote bank and appeasement policies”.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari today (20 May) handed over a 27km stretch of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for setting up fencing and security infrastructure along the border with Bangladesh and said more land would be provided wherever required to strengthen border management in the state.
Addressing a meeting on the occasion, Adhikari said the process of land transfer to the BSF marked the beginning of a larger initiative to improve border security in the state.
"The land transfer will be completed within two weeks. Initially, land covering a 27km stretch along the India-Bangladesh international boundary is being handed over," he said, nearly 11 days after announcing the decision to transfer the land to the BSF for fencing.
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Highlighting the need to expedite border infrastructure, the chief minister said a sizable portion of West Bengal's international boundary still remained unfenced.
"In West Bengal, around 1,600km of the total 2,200km border with Bangladesh has already been fenced while nearly 600km still remains unfenced," he said.
Adhikari said, "Wherever land is needed for fencing and border security, we will hand it over to the BSF."
Targeting the previous Trinamool Congress government, Adhikari alleged it had failed to cooperate on border infrastructure because of "vote bank and appeasement policies".
"The previous government, due to its vote bank politics and appeasement policies, did not give land to the BSF," he claimed.
Adhikari also alleged that coordination among the BSF, West Bengal police and district administration in bordering areas had weakened over the years.
"For the last several years, coordination meetings between the BSF, state police and administration in bordering areas did not take place," he said, adding that the district-level coordination mechanism had now been revived.
Announcing a stricter policy on illegal immigration, the chief minister said the state has implemented a provision for the handover of infiltrators detained by police to the BSF.
"A letter was sent by the Centre to the state last year regarding the direct handover of infiltrators to the BSF but the previous government failed to implement this important provision. We have now enforced it," he said.
Adhikari said those not covered under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be treated as infiltrators and action would be taken accordingly.
"Those who are not covered under the CAA will be treated as infiltrators. The state police will arrest them and hand them over to the BSF," he said, adding that such persons would subsequently be deported.
