The eroded banks of the Nagar river that flows along the India-Bangladesh border. File picture

Islampur, May 27: The Border Security Force has started building a permanent embankment along the banks of the Kartoa and Nagar rivers in Moragoti to stop erosion in the area.

Officials said erosion in the banks of the two rivers that flow along the international border not only resulted in the loss of farmland but also washed away pillars marking the border, making it difficult for the guards to keep a watch on the 227-km stretch.

According to sources, in February 2005 the BSF had started building an embankment along the Nagar river in Moragoti, 25km from here. But the work was stopped after the Bangladesh Rifles fired upon the Indian border guards and the BSF returned fire.

In March 2006, the BSF objected when the BDR started embankment work along the Kartoa river. An exchange of fire had again stopped the work.

The international border along North Dinajpur is under the BSF’s Kishanganj sector.

A senior officer of the BSF said last year they had sent a proposal to the Union home ministry to build a permanent embankment in the area.

The ministry had decided that the decision to start work on the riverbanks would be taken after a survey conducted by the Joint Rivers Commission that will have representatives from both the countries.

The commission gave the green light to start construction last year. The work is being carried out by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) with funds allotted by the finance department.

“We have started the work through the CPWD at the beginning of this month and years of uncertainty has ended. The local villagers are also relieved as they were also losing land and we the border pillars,” the officer said. The two rivers had been eating up farmland and land belonging to the small tea growers in the area.

“We had received the survey report by the Joint Rivers Commission of the two countries in November last year and the Indian government took up the matter with Dhaka. A meeting was also held between the Union finance ministry, the home department and us before that. We are laying the embankment according to the alignment finalised by the Joint Rivers Commission,” he said.

Sources in the CPWD said permanent embankments were being constructed in places where the erosion of the rivers has obliterated the pillars.

“The total length will be around 40km and we have started work on a 5km stretch in Moragoti. The BDR will also be able to strengthen the embankments on their side of the border,” a CPWD engineer said.