The Suvendu Adhikari government continued to move forward with its agenda of fortifying the India-Bangladesh border across Bengal during its third cabinet meeting at Nabanna on Wednesday.

Bengal shares over 2,200 kilometres with Bangladesh. The new state government has made it a priority to hand over parcels of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for the installation of fences and allied infrastructure.

During the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, it was decided that land — both government-owned and acquired — would be handed over to the BSF.

“It has been decided to carry out perpetual transfer of land to the BSF through the execution of transfer deeds following the realisation of necessary transfer fees,” minister Agnimitra Paul said in Nabanna.

Paul, along with her cabinet colleague Dilip Ghosh, was addressing newspersons after the cabinet meeting.

According to her, the cabinet decided to transfer 31.905 acres of land to the BSF for the construction of border fences and other purposes in nine places located in various districts of Bengal.

Also, a decision was made to transfer 1.53 acres of land to the BSF for the construction of border outposts in three places of Malda, Nadia and Cooch Behar districts.

Paul said some other parcels of land measuring 12.72 acres in all were earmarked for fencing the India-Bangladesh border at 11 places in North Dinajpur district.

“The state government is acting on the BJP’s agenda to drive away infiltrators and to secure the India-Bangladesh border. On one hand, holding centres have been opened, and the process of detecting and deporting Bangladeshi infiltrators has started. On the other hand, land is being provided to the BSF for installing fences along the open and porous stretches of the international border,” said a retired police officer.

At the meeting, the state cabinet also decided that 20 acres of government land on the Bamandanga tea estate area in Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri would be handed over to the Northeast Frontier Railway.

“The land has been handed over for compensatory afforestation because of the use of forest land for the Sevoke-Rangpo railway project. The railways will subsequently transfer it to the state forest department for afforestation,” said Paul.