West Bengal minister visits Petrapole border areas over border fencing progress
Ashok Kirtania said land acquisition work in most parts of North 24 Parganas district, which shares a border with Bangladesh, was “progressing satisfactorily”, but flagged resistance in the Basirhat area.
West Bengal's Minister Ashok Kirtania today (17 May) visited the border areas in Petrapole near Bangladesh to review progress in land acquisition for border fencing and to meet Border Security Force (BSF) officials to assess the ground situation.
Ashok Kirtania said land acquisition work in most parts of North 24 Parganas district, which shares a border with Bangladesh, was "progressing satisfactorily", but flagged resistance in the Basirhat area.
"Some problems are arising because parts of land belonging to locals and ponds fall on the other side of the border. We will figure that out. National security is paramount... We have handed over the required land to the BSF for fencing and provided compensation to the land owners...," Kirtania said.
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He added that the state government was committed to handing over land to the Border Security Force within 45 days for fencing along the Bangladesh border, in line with a decision taken at the first meeting of the BJP cabinet about a week ago.
