About 76pc of the Bangladesh-India border is covered by fence, says India’s home ministry

India's Home affairs ministry on Tuesday said that about 76 per cent of the Bangladesh-India border has been covered by anti-trespassing fence and the balance length of the international border will be covered by physical fencing and technological solutions in the form of its Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS)

The ministry said that the riverine border between the two countries is not feasible for fencing and will be covered through technological solutions, reports ANI.

A pilot project in Assam's Dhubri along the 61 km riverine border has been implemented and that the Indian government is regularly monitoring the progress of work, the ministry added.

Responding to a question at the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament, India's Minister of State of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that 3,141 km of the total 4,096.7 km of the Bangladesh-India border is covered by fencing.

According to the minister, 1,638 km of the total 2,216.70 km of Bangladesh-India border present between Bangladesh and West Bengal province of India has been covered by fence, followed by 210 km of 263 km in Assam, 326 km of 443 km in Meghalaya, 155 km of 318 km in Mizoram, and 812 km of 856 km in Tripura, reports ANI.

Nityanand Rai further informed the Lok Sabha that a total of 77,410 cattle were seized in 2019 with the arrest of 703 smugglers followed by 46,809 cattle seizures in 2020 with the arrest of 460 smugglers on the Bangladesh-India border.

In this regard, Nityanand Rai said, "Indian government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to check illegal trade of cattle along Indi-Bangladesh border which inter-alia includes round the clock surveillance and patrolling on the borders and establishment of observation post; increase in the number of BSF personnel; construction of border fencing and floodlighting; use of watercraft or boats and floating Border Out Posts (BOP) for domination of riverine area; deployment of advance technological equipment like Hand Held Thermal Imager (HHTI), Night vision Device (NVD), Twin Telescope, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV); upgradation of intelligence setup and enhanced coordination with the state governments or concerned intelligence agencies."

The minister said that the Border Security Force (BSF) regularly conducts patrols, lays barriers and check posts, establishes observation posts and carries out anti-tunnelling exercises to stop the entry of illegal migrants into the country through the border.

Rai further added that despite the tight-knit security established by India on the border, some illegal migrants are still able to bypass security and enter the country through the difficult river terrain border that the two countries share and is not covered by any fence.

The minister said around 1,109 foreigners were apprehended along the Bangladesh-India border in 2019 and 955 last year while attempting to infiltrate into India, reports ANI

The minister also mentioned that since 2019, disciplinary action has been taken against 28 BSF personnel for aiding in smuggling and illegal entry of migrants through the borders. Of them, 22 personnel have been punished and disciplinary action is in process for the rest 6.