Wire Wary

Shillong, Dec. 21: The Meghalaya government’s sympathetic stand towards demands raised by Co-ordination Committee on International Boundary (CCIB) which wants fencing the Zero Line at “some” places notwithstanding, the BSF today asserted that fences would be erected 150 yards from the Zero Line.

“We aren’t part of the committee and we had categorically stated on earlier occasions, too, that fencing will be 150 yards away from the Zero Line,” BSF inspector-general J.P. Sinha said.

Sources said a recent communiqué from the Union home ministry had instructed the BSF to stick to Indira-Mujib agreement which proclaims that the there should not be any construction work within 150 yards of the Zero Line.

National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC), which has undertaken fencing work along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya, had to face the ire of some of NGOs who demanded that fencing be stopped as many farmers would lose their land.

The CCIB, a conglomeration of social organisations, had recently called for picketing of offices in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts.

The organisations flayed the state government’s failure to punish district commissioner of East Khasi Hills and NBCC officials who had gone to the border areas to survey land for fencing.

Deputy chief minister Donkupar Roy and representatives of various non-governmental organisations associated with the CCIB will visit the border areas tomorrow where work has been suspended. The delegation, which includes legislators of border constituencies, will also visit the remote areas and inspect boundary pillars erected along the entire stretch covering Dawki, Borhil and Lyngkhat.

While the Dawki sector falls under Jaintia Hills, the other two sectors are in East Khasi Hills.

The CCIB will also decide on the next date of visit to other border areas where the villagers are resisting border fencing. The committee is expected to complete its survey within a month and submit its findings in the form of a report to the state government for necessary action.