Indo-Bangladesh border: 1,528 people from Assam live in ‘no man’s land’

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: A total of 1,528 persons from Assam are living on the other side of the fencing (no-man’s land) along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

This statistic was revealed in a written reply to a question posed by Congress MLA Kamalakshya Dey Purkayastha to Border Protection & Development Minister Atul Bora today in the state Assembly.

According to the reply furnished by minister Bora, a total of 281 families comprising 1,528 persons are residing on no-man’s land on the other side of the barbed-wire fencing on the India-Bangladesh border.

It was also stated in the reply that the population of different districts living outside the border is: Dhubri—693, Cachar—29, and Karimganj—806.

It was further stated that the Assam government is taking up the matter of people living on the other side of the border with the district authorities concerned for the rehabilitation of the 1528 persons thus situated.

Information furnished by the minister also showed that 77.95% of the work on fencing on the border between Assam and Bangladesh has been completed. The remaining part is still unfenced due to the riverine nature of the border in the area. Among the border districts, 48.76 km has been fenced in the Dhubri district, with 50.50 km still unfenced; fencing on 32.20 km of the border in South Salmara-Mankachar district is complete, with 7.08 km remaining; 100% of the 33 km in Cachar district is fenced; in Karimganj, 101.96 km has been fenced but 3.50 km remains unfenced.

The remaining portion of fencing in Karimganj town could not be completed due to objections raised by Border Guards, Bangladesh, it was stated.

Also read: Border Security Force seizes gold biscuits from Indo-Bangladesh international border

Also Watch: