New Delhi, May 5: The Centre has begun work on sealing the porous Indo-Bangladesh border in Mizoram, undeterred by the problems faced in fencing certain areas in other states.
A seven-km stretch has already been fenced at Hnahva in Mamit district by the National Buildings Construction Company Limited (NBCCL).
The Union home ministry had asked the public sector unit to conduct a survey of the border last year. It aims at fencing 147 km between Amchurimukh and Marpara in the district this year and has earmarked Rs 250 crore for the purpose.
The home ministry plans to fence the 318-km stretch of the Mizoram-Bangladesh frontier by 2007-08 and will divide the work among a few public sector undertakings.
?From the portion that has been fenced in Mizoram, it appears that this sector will be slightly different from our experience in other states. It may take more time and incur more expenditure due to the hilly terrain,? Arup Roy Choudhury, chairman-cum-managing director of NBCCL, said.
An NBCCL official said Rs 11 crore was spent in fencing the seven km and a stretch of two km parallel to the fence.
The model of fencing is ?double concertina coil? as followed in other states. The coils are placed both vertically and horizontally between the barbed wires, which stretch to a height of 8.4 feet.
The Northeast shares a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh. Mizoram is the fourth state in the region where the border is being fenced. Work has been going on in Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya for the past few years though at a slow pace.
The annual report of the home ministry, released a few days ago, said it has sanctioned fencing of 400 km international border in Mizoram. This means that 82 km of the state?s border with Myanmar will also be sealed.
The annual report said in Manipur, 10 km of the border would be fence at Moreh, where the lone trading outpost with Myanmar is located. However, no construction zone has been sorted out with the Myanmar government yet.
The Centre also plans to regulate the free movement of people on the Indo-Myanmar border from 40 km to 16 km. A draft memorandum of understanding is being discussed with Myanmar, the report added.
