India-Bangladesh Border Fencing To Be Completed By 2020: Centre

A CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The porous India-Bangladesh will be completed by December 2020.

The Union Home Ministry (MHA) has set the fresh deadline with around 2,803.013 km already fenced. “The remaining 169.64 km will be sealed by December 2020,” said Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in the Parliament on Wednesday.

He said that a total area of 3,326.14 km have been sanctioned for fencing. India-Bangladesh shares a border area of 4096 km.

“Illegal migrants as well as the anti-India activists take advantage of the porous border to sneak into the country,” said a senior Home ministry official.

India’s land borders are characterized by deserts, mountains, forests and riverine terrain.

“The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to contain cross-border infiltration which inter-alia includes deployment of Border Guarding Forces along the International Borders, erection of border fencing and floodlighting, effective domination of the borders by patrolling, laying ‘Nakas’, and manning observation posts along the borders,” said Rai.

He added that vulnerability mapping of border outposts (BOPs), deployment of surveillance equipments, strengthening of intelligence network, anti-tunneling exercises in vulnerable areas and deployment of technological solutions in non-feasible areas like riverine gaps, among others are also being taken out along the border areas.

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