Army to supervise Indo-Bangla border sealing

Guwahati: The union home ministry has approved Assam government’s proposal for completely sealing the porous Indo-Bangladesh border under the supervision of the Army to stop illegal migrants and Bangladeshi jihadi elements giving chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal far-reaching support to implement BJP’s election promise of an illegal migrant-free state.
The total length of the Indo-Bangla border is 280 km in Assam, out of which a 71 km portion is unfenced in patches.A 60-km border area within this unfenced portion is riverine which requires specialized technology to completely seal the border and this is where the Army’s expertise would be called for. The Army’s help would also be taken in supervising the plugging of innumerable holes and strengthening the fence that were first laid out in 1984.
Sonowal, after his meeting home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday, said, “The home minister told me that the ministry has approved our proposal for completing the sealing of the Indo-Bangladesh border under the supervision of the army like is has been done in Jammu& Kashmir and all necessary work in this regard has already been initiated,” Sonowal said.
The border is manned by BSF and Sonowal has also asked the border force to make use of ‘smart technological solutions’ like laser walls and surveillance gadgets to keep tight vigil at the frontiers at all times.