What it takes to protect a porous border
According to the Centre, West Bengal’s land purchase policy is slowing down its fencing work along the Indo-Bangla border. Here’s what they mean by that
The Centre recently told the Supreme Court that the West Bengal government’s direct land purchase policy was slowing down fencing work by border security agencies along the porous Indo-Bangladesh boundary in the eastern state.
A Constitution bench of the SC headed by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, was hearing a batch of petitions challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act 1955.
The policy which came into effect in March 2016 says that often important infrastructure projects like food godowns, roads, and bridges are not fully commissioned for want of small parcels of land.
“To ensure the optimal utilisation of public funds and early implementation of such projects, direct land purchase from land-owners may become necessary,” it states.
However, the Centre said the policy was slowing down its efforts.
“West Bengal government follows a far slower, more complex direct land purchase policy. Even for national security purposes like border fencing, there is non-cooperation by the state government. If the state of West Bengal cooperates in acquiring the land and hands over the land for fencing, the central government will do so,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the apex court earlier this month.
The 2022-23 annual report of the Union home ministry reveals that out of the total 4,096 km long Indo-Bangladesh border, around 3,180 km has been fenced. The remaining 916 km will be covered by physical and non-physical barriers. All the ongoing works are expected to be completed by March 2024.
“There have been some problems in the construction of fencing in certain stretches on this border due to riverine, low-lying areas, habitations close to the border, pending land acquisition cases and protests by the border population, which delay the completion of the project,” the report stated.
So what is the policy in question?
According to the document, a department or agency of the Union government seeking land will need the approval of the concerned ministry (ministry of home affairs in BSF’s case). The relevant department in the state — in this case, the home department — will seek the concurrence of the standing committee on industry, infrastructure and employment before moving the proposal to a purchase committee.
A 15-day notice with details of the type of land the agency wants to purchase is given in local public offices and newspapers, seeking applications from landowners with a letter of intent saying that they want to sell the land. The buyer — BSF — will select the land from the set of applications, a senior official of the state land and land reforms department explained.
“The BSF doesn’t purchase the land directly from the landowners. It is the Central Public Works Department which acquires the land on behalf of the BSF,” said an officer.
An eight-member committee headed by the district magistrate decides on the price of the land. The committee has a representative of the buyer. Land is purchased through zilla parishad or the local civic body.
“The money is given to the zilla parishad or the civic body for payment to the land owners. The department also needs to pay an administrative cost to the zilla parishad or the municipality. Similarly, the land will be first registered in the name of the zilla parishad or civic body which would then transfer the land to the buyer,” the officer quoted above said.
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress came to power in West Bengal after dislodging the Left government in 2011 on the back of the anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram.
“After coming to power riding the land agitation wave, the TMC government came up with a policy to prevent any kind of forceful land acquisition. The direct land purchase policy is consent-based and transparent,” a second top officer of the land and land reforms department said.
Both officers spoke on the condition of staying anonymous.
The issue of fencing
India's international border with Bangladesh runs on the periphery of five states: West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. West Bengal, with 2,216 km, has the longest stretch.
This is also the longest stretch of international border shared by any state in India with a neighbouring country. By comparison, the Indo-Pak border is 3,323 km long.
“Fencing along the Indo-Bangla border started in the mid-80s. There were demarcations, such as pillars, along the border before that. As a portion of the Indo-Bangla border is also riverine, wooden longs were sometimes used to mark the boundary by erecting them on the river bed,” said Samir Kumar Mitra, retired DIG of BSF.
The Indo-Bangla border is also one of the most porous international borders in India. Data placed in the Lok Sabha on December 12 by the Union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik, reveals that in the last three years, security agencies detected at least 2,654 cases of intrusion on the Indo-Bangla border, compared to just 124 such cases along the Indo-Pak border.
“The Indo-Pak border is heavily guarded compared to the Indo-Bangla border. Secondly, Bangladesh is a friendly nation. The border on the eastern side is very densely populated. There are villages along several stretches of the border. There are houses even within 150 metres of the international border. Hence intrusion is higher on this side,” said Mitra.
Senior BSF officials in West Bengal said that often it takes years to get a plot of land along the thickly populated border in the eastern state.
“Fencing is needed primarily to stop illegal activities such as illegal entrants and smuggling activities,” said Mitra.
“There are around 25 cases in which land was required for setting up fences along the border in south Bengal and around 29 such cases in north Bengal. In south Bengal we have received land only on 11 cases and in north Bengal in four cases,” said a BSF official.
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