Jalpaiguri, Sept. 18: The proposed visit of Shivraj Patil, the Union home minister, has made residents of Berubari and those of neighbouring villages ? officially known as ?adverse land? ? hopeful.

Patil along with a high level team comprising officials from the central home ministry is slated to visit Berubari and the disputed areas ? Boroshoshi, Naotori-Debottor, Kajaldighi and Paranigram ? on September 25, sources said.

?We had requested him to come here and see for himself the problems being faced by residents there since partition. The wrong demarcation of the international boundary, which if followed, will cut off four Indian villages from the mainland. His decision to visit the area is praiseworthy and we are hopeful that this time there is a chance that the problem will be solved,? said Hiten Burman, the MP of Cooch Behar.

Officials of the CPWD had recently surveyed Berubari, 15 km from here, to demarcate the border for the construction of a road and barbed wire fencing. Soon residents found out that officials were following an old map on which half of Berubari was not charted. Construction of the fence would mean that 8,000 people who have ration cards and voter identity cards would be completely detached from the mainland as these villages would not be included within the Indian territory.

According to Burman, Patil will arrive on the morning of September 25 and will visit Tinbigha.

?From there, the minister will go to Berubari in the afternoon. He will hold meetings with BSF personnel, residents and political representatives and will also visit the border area,? Burman said.

The MP added that S.S. Babanagare, the additional personal secretary of Patil, had in response to Burman?s letter informed him of the minister?s visit.

?I have also received a letter from the foreign ministry yesterday. They have confirmed that that are looking into the issue,? he said.

Leaders of Berubari and Jalpaiguri, who had demanded the solution of the issue at the Saarc summit scheduled in Bangladesh in November this year, are hopeful too.

?We will reiterate our demand of including the adverse land within the boundary and construct the barbed wire fences and border roads beyond these areas. The Centre seems to be serious about resolving the problem. We want the issue to be raised during bilateral discussions at the Saarc summit, which will be convened in Bangladesh,? said Govinda Roy, the Jalpaiguri district secretary of the Forward Bloc and an MLA.