BSF offers influx solutions
MANAN KUMAR BSF jawans keep vigil along the Indo-Bangladesh
border in Tripura. A file picture New Delhi, Feb. 7: In its bid to stop
largescale illegal migration from Bangladesh, the Centre has asked West Bengal,
Tripura and Meghalaya to hand over area falling within 150 yards of the
international border to the BSF in certain specific pockets.
The proposal originally initiated by the BSF claims that illegal migration
can be checked effectively if the states agree to give 150 yards of their
territory running along the 45.54 km international border, cutting across 145
villages in the three states.
The proposal recommends issuing identification cards to the 89,000 residents
based on the model followed in Malaysia and Singapore and set up an immigration
unit in the area. These smart cards, bearing pictures of the residents, would
help the BSF arrest any infiltrator found in the sensitive border area, said a
BSF official.
A senior home ministry official said to implement the proposal, 89,000 people
residing in 13,650 houses, would have to be relocated and rehabilitated. A
major portion of this international border is either not fenced or badly
demarcated. It is used openly by people from both countries to venture into
each others territory.
So far all efforts to stop villagers from crossing the border and report any
illegal migration in Indian territory have not yielded any result.
Right now we cannot do anything to stop any of these illegal activities as
the jurisdiction falls under the local police and politicians. The area has a
dense population. In comparison, infiltration in the Punjab and Rajasthan is
almost zero simply because there are no houses within 150 yards from the border
and the land is used only for tilling, said a BSF official.
To make the proposal work, only houses falling within the 150-yard zone
would have to be shifted while the land can still be tilled by the farmers. The
BSF will use only some portion of the land to guard the border by creating some
posts there, said the official.
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