42-km unfenced border in Meghalaya a concern: BSF IG

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: The Inspector General of BSF Meghalaya Frontier, OP Upadhyay, has raised concern over approximately 42 kilometres of unfenced border in the state, attributing the delay in fencing primarily to land acquisition hurdles. Speaking to reporters at the BSF headquarters in Umpling, he said, “Actually, roughly, if I can say, around 42 kilometres of border in Meghalaya is unfenced. And primarily it is because of the non-availability of the land.”

He acknowledged the active involvement of the state government in resolving the issue. “We are working in close coordination with the state government and officers of the state government and the Chief Minister—they are also concerned about this issue, and they are proactively working on that. And I am hopeful that the impediments in this regard will be very soon removed.”

On the role of the district administration, he added, “The respective deputy commissioners of the concerned districts, they are also working on this issue, and they are trying to persuade the villagers, those whose land is going to be affected, and they have got some concern that after the coming of the fencing, the land ahead of the fence will not be available to them.”

Upadhyay stated, “We are ready to help all the border populations—people of the border areas—in whatever sense they will require our assistance, be it in the form of security and patrols or be it in the form of the gates in the fencing; we are ready for that. So from our side, there is no problem.”

He issued a direct appeal to the people residing in border areas: “I also appeal through media to the people of the bordering district that they should cooperate and willingly hand over the lands to constructing agencies. So that—this is a project of national importance. It has bearing on the national security, and as soon as we get the area fenced, this will be better for the security of the state and the security of the nation, as well as the security of the border population.”

Speaking on the issue of smuggling, the IG noted a positive trend. “If you see the data, smuggling is very much under control, and it is on the reduction side. In the past, during the election time, there was some concern about the increase in smuggling, but at the moment there is a downtrend visible—and primarily because of the alertness of BSF, coordination and cooperation of state police and other agencies.”

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