Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Friday directed officials of the West Bengal government to expedite the fencing of the Indo-Bangladesh border in the state.
In a meeting with state administration and Border Security Force (BSF) officials here, the senior bureaucrat pointed out that out of the required 289 km along the Bangladesh border, only 182 km of fencing was erected due to land acquisition problems.
The meeting came in the backdrop of strong differences emerging between Mamata Banerjee Government and Center on extension of jurisdiction of BSF in border states like West Bengal, Assam and Punjab. However, it was learned that the issue was not discussed in the meeting.
Chief Secretary Harikrishna Dwivedi, State Home Secretary BP Gopalika, Land Secretary Manoj Pant and Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Malviya were among those who participated in the two-and-a-half-hour discussion at HIDCO Bhavan, presided over by Bhalla. border issues. District magistrates and SPs of 10 districts that share the international border with Bangladesh also participated in the meeting. The 10 districts are North and South 24 Parganas, North and South Dinajpur, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Nadia, Malda and Murshidabad.
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