The Centre has decided to erect fencing along a 35-km-long “sensitive” border patch between India and Bhutan in order to keep control on activities of insurgent and militant groups active along this area. The stretch in the Kokrajhar and Chirang districts of Assam, bordering Bhutan, would be the only area where the 699-km long border will have a fence or barbed wire erection.
“We had sent a proposal to the Union Home Ministry for fencing this select area and the Ministry has accepted our proposal. We have talked to Bhutan about this and they are also on-board. Work is on to acquire land for the construction of the fence infrastructure,” SSB Director General BD Sharma told reporters, ahead of the forces’ 52nd Raising Day on Thursday.
The Sasashtra Seema Bal (SSB) on Tuesday also said it is evolving a new comprehensive border management strategy to guard the Indo-Nepal border with inputs suggesting that the terror groups are using that neighbouring country to enter into India.
Sharma said the paramilitary is undertaking more and more “intelligence-based” operations in the border areas with Nepal and Bhutan as these areas are porous and it was not possible to frisk each and everyone crossing these frontiers.
“It is very difficult to work on these two borders given the conditions like being open border and difficult terrain but we are evolving a comprehensive border management plan in this direction. We have framed some new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and deployed plainclothes interaction teams of our troops on these frontiers to ease procedures and extend more help to the border population and others,” he said.
Sharma said after the devastating earthquake in Nepal early this year, it was reported that one or two jailed and dreaded criminals may have been able to cross the Indo-Nepal border without being detected.
He said the force also witnessed increased instances of human trafficking on this border after the quake occurred.
On the situation along the Indo-Nepal border in the wake of the agitation by the Madhesis, the DG said the tense situation along this frontier is getting almost “normal” and rejected as “purely political” the allegations of its indulgence in precipitating the situation.
At present, there are about 2,000 trucks and other vehicles waiting to cross the border and these figures have come down in the last few days when there were over 4,500 vehicles stranded, he added.