Union Home Secy discusses international border fencing with top Bengal officials

Total 289 km of the international border is needed to be fenced with barbed wires but it could not completed due to land acquisition issues.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla discussed international border fencing, integrated check posts, border outposts and road projects with top officials of the West Bengal government on Friday, sources said.

West Bengal Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, Home Secretary BP Gopalika and Director-General of Police Manoj Malaviya were present at the meeting, besides magistrates of at least 10 districts, they said.

During the meeting, Bhalla stressed that the Centre was very concerned about the security at the international borders, a source said.

Among the issues discussed at the meeting were pending land acquisition for construction of borders fences, road projects, border outposts and integrated check posts, he said.

The issue of extension of the BSF's jurisdiction to 50 km from the international border did not come up for discussion at the meeting, the source said.

''At the meeting, there were discussions about land acquisition for barbed wire fencing at the international borders. Total 289 km of the international border is needed to be fenced with barbed wires but it could not completed due to land acquisition issues. Fencing of 107 km of borders is yet to be done,'' he said. Meanwhile, senior officials of the state government objected to the proposed plan of setting up border chowks in West Bengal, stating that they were ''full of errors'', he said.

''There are a lot of mistakes in the proposed plans for setting up the border chowks in West Bengal. Our officers have pointed out the mistakes and placed a report in support of their claims,'' the source in the West Bengal government told PTI. West Bengal shares over 2,200 km of international border with Bangladesh, about 183 km border with Bhutan and 100 km border with Nepal.