New Delhi: Identifying a very significant patch between the India-Bangladesh border, Kaliachak in the Malda district of West Bengal, the Home Ministry has decided to fence the border having an area of 28 kilometres on a war footing. A recent meeting in the Home Ministry has also approved the required funding for consultancy services to carry out the feasibility study and preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the construction of culverts and fencing in the Malda district.
The High-Level Empowered Committee (HLEC) meeting that took place last month under the chairmanship of former home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla has decided to start the work for the fencing of the border on war footing. In fact, the decision to go for fencing work along this sensitive area was taken following inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Kaliachak in Malda, located barely 10-12 miles from the Indo-Bangladesh border, is frequently used as an international smuggling point. In 2016, this border town witnessed a major riot with thousands of people affected.
The district Kaliachak is also known for poppy mafias, which often clash with the BSF. The town has been identified as a crude bomb factory, as evidenced by five children being injured in crude bomb explosions there in 2022.
Kaliachak is reportedly a hotbed of fundamentalists and a den of criminals engaged in cross-border cattle smuggling, drug trafficking, gun-running, human trafficking and smuggling in fake Indian currency.
It is believed that a large portion of fake Indian currency notes entering India is through the Indo-Bangla border in Malda, especially the border villages in Kaliachak. It is worth mentioning that the Centre informed the Supreme Court in December last that the Indo-Bangladesh border fencing project has been hindered due to the non-cooperation of the West Bengal government and pending land acquisition issues in the state.
Significantly, the HLEC meeting has also approved several other projects related to India-Pakistan, India-Bangladesh, India-China and India-Nepal border. According to sources, projects worth Rs 2,200 crore for the BSF, Rs 1,100 crore projects for the Assam Rifles and projects worth Rs 700 crore for SSB have been cleared in the meeting.
The meeting also cleared technological solutions to address unfenced gaps in Assam’s Silchar including drone surveillance. It has also approved the construction of a single-row fence in West Bengal’s Dakshin Dinajpur district, modular fencing, including earthworks, culvert work, protection work, and patrolling tracks in Krishnanagar; and high-quality security LED lights for various stretches. Several fencing and road projects have also been approved for the Indo-Bangladesh border in Mizoram.
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