Residents of four villages in South Berubari of Jalpaiguri district have welcomed the state government’s decision to expedite land acquisition for fencing and road construction along the India-Bangladesh border, but demanded that decades-old land mutation issues be resolved first.
These South Berubari villages — Chilahati, Boroshoshi, Nawtori-Debottar and Kajaldighi — fall under the Jalpaiguri Assembly constituency.
“Although these villages became part of India after partition and residents have voted in Indian elections for decades, their land records still carry references to Boda police station, which is in present-day Bangladesh,” said Saradaprasad Das, a resident who has time and again flagged the issue.
“In 2015, during the land boundary agreement signed between India and Bangladesh, these villages were formally incorporated into the Indian map. However, the mutation of land records in the names of current residents has still not been completed by the state land and land reforms department,” he added.
As a result, despite living on ancestral land for generations, many residents still do not legally possess land ownership documents in their own names. This has deprived them access to several government welfare schemes, including agricultural loans, farmer assistance schemes and procurement benefits.
Last Monday, as chief minister Suvendu Adhikari held the first meeting of his cabinet, he announced that officials concerned have been asked to complete the process of handing over the land required for border fencing and road construction within 45 days to the Border Security Force (BSF).
“The chief minister’s directive to hand over land to the BSF within 45 days has brought relief to nearly 8,000 residents of these four villages. However, before the land is transferred to the BSF, ownership documents must first be issued in the names of the residents. Once that happens, landowners will also be eligible for compensation,” said Krishna Mohan Roy, another resident.
He stated that there is a 19-kilometre-long stretch of unfenced border along these villages.
“Out of it, there are disputes over the ownership of land along a stretch of around 15.5 kilometres, while only about 3.5 kilometres are free of legal complications,” Roy added.
The residents said that time and again, they had handed over their old land documents to the Jalpaiguri district administration so that mutation certificates could be issued in their names.
“We are ready to hand over the land for fencing, as it is a matter of national security. But first, we need to be rightful owners of our land, and only then can we legally hand it over to the administration or the BSF. Unless we become legal owners, we would be deprived of the compensation, as most of us are dependent on our land,” said resident
Dwijendranath Roy.
Anantadev Adhikari, the BJP candidate who won from the Jalpaiguri Assembly seat, said the demand to resolve the South Berubari land dispute had emerged as one of the biggest concerns among residents during the elections.
“While campaigning, I realised that resolving the land dispute in South Berubari is an important issue for the new MLA of this constituency. However, as the chief minister has come up with the announcement (45-day deadline), we hope necessary steps will be taken by the district administration to resolve it,” said Adhikari.