A dilapidated bridge in Bhogdanga

May 14: The barbed wire fence that was supposed to solve Assam’s infiltration problem has caused villagers of two hamlets to live like foreigners on Indian soil, and not just because of the daily wait for the fence gates to open.

Having erected the fence, the Centre and the state government alike seem to have forgotten that a few of those across the fence are their responsibility.

Being just a kilometre from the Bangladesh border, Bhogdanga and Faksherkuti were cut off by the barbed wire fence.

Every day, the villagers have to wait for the gates to open to let them into their own land.

It is a life of deprivation.

A muddy stretch with no high schools, hospitals, post office, or even shops, is what villagers of Bhogdanga call home.

There is one ME school — 708 Bhogdanga ME school and a Faksherkuti Venture LP school, but teachers hardly come to take classes.

“A relative who stays in Bhogdanga village had to suffer untold miseries during an emergency because of the barbed wire fencing,” said Bipul Chandra Roy, a resident of Nalia village.

BSF officials in Kedar said the gates open for six hours every day, for two-hour stretches at a time.

A bridge that connects Bhogdanga and Faksherkuti can collapse any time, the villagers alleged.

Funds sanctioned for a bridge over the Kalidhara rivulet have been diverted to other heads a number of times.

Several other funds have never reached these border villages. Villagers allege that though the Centre grants compensation for the villagers under special category, no one, except the BSF jawans and officials, understand their plight.

“It is the BSF jawans and officials who always stand by us in times of need,” a villager said.

The chairman of the Dhubri zila parishad, Nazrul Hoque Bepari, said no development project has been undertaken by the zila parishad but the gram panchayat may take up a scheme.

Golokganj legislator Abu Taher Bepari, however, held out hope.

He has received approval for Rs 15 lakh under the Rajiv Gandhi Solar Light Scheme for border villages and work is likely to begin soon.

“I shall try my level best to initiate some development work in Bhogdanga and Faksherkuti,” Bepari said.