New Delhi: The newly formed West Bengal government has transferred control of 32 acres of land to the Border Security Force (BSF). The land will be used for fencing and setting up outposts along the Bangladesh border to mitigate security concerns over undocumented migration and cross-border crimes.
West Bengal’s panchayat minister, Dilip Ghosh, told reporters in Kolkata on Wednesday that the decision to transfer the land to the BSF was completed to enable the security force to carry out the pending border fencing work and setting up of outposts.
“In keeping with our first cabinet meeting decision to hand over land to the BSF for fencing, the government has given 31.9 acres at nine places in the state along the border with Bangladesh,” Ghosh said. West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adikari chaired the cabinet meeting, held last month, when the decision on land transfer was taken.
The state’s land reforms department had placed before the cabinet the proposal to transfer 1.53-acre land in Malda, Murshidabad, and Cooch Behar districts for setting up permanent security outposts at three locations along the international border.
Another proposal seeking the transfer of control over 12.72-acre land at 11 locations in Uttar Dinajpur district to facilitate fencing work on the border was also implemented, he said.
Long-pending land transfer
The issue of land transfer to the BSF for both fencing and outpost set-up purposes was long pending over domestic politics, as the previous West Bengal government did not see eye-to-eye with the central government.
The previous West Bengal government, headed by Mamata Banerjee, had refused to implement an October 2021 Modi government order extending BSF powers up to 50 km from the international border from the previous 15km limit.
Mamata Banerjee’s government had called for a rollback of the home affairs ministry order and refused to transfer the border land to the BSF for fencing and setting up outposts to check on undocumented migration, cross-border crimes, and infiltration.
The land transfer issue became contentious, and earlier this year, the Calcutta high court criticised the previous West Bengal government for the delays in handing over the border land to the BSF and ordered it to carry out the transfer forthwith.
The high court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Lieutenant General Subrata Saha, a retired Army officer, who also has a political affiliation with the present ruling party in West Bengal. Gen Saha had contested the 2021 state assembly polls.
After the Suvendu Adhikari government took charge in the middle of May, the state government decided to implement the high court order and transfer the land to the BSF.