Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata
Kolkata, Jul 14: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday claimed that work to strengthen security along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal has gathered pace under the state's new government, citing the transfer of over 1,000 acres of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for border fencing.
The claim was made by BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari in a post on social media, which was later shared by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. According to the statement, the state government has transferred 1,024.75 acres of land to facilitate fencing along 172.6 km of the international border over the past two-and-a-half months.
The BJP said Murshidabad accounted for the largest share of land transferred, with 337 acres handed over for fencing covering 45.4 km of the border. It was followed by North 24 Parganas, where 241.03 acres were made available for 42.07 km of fencing, and Malda, where 176.78 acres were transferred for 20.15 km.
According to the figures released by the party, Cooch Behar contributed 135.33 acres for 39.39 km of fencing, while Nadia handed over 95.11 acres for 14.79 km. South Dinajpur accounted for 26.41 acres covering 7.75 km.
The statement further said North Dinajpur transferred 6.61 acres for 1.28 km of fencing, Darjeeling provided 4.31 acres for 1.45 km, and Jalpaiguri handed over 2.17 acres for 0.31 km of border fencing.
In his social media post, Bhandari said the initiative reflected the government's commitment to strengthening national security and improving border infrastructure.
The BJP also claimed that the current administration has expedited the process of making land available to the BSF, contrasting it with the previous Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee, which it alleged had not addressed the issue adequately.
According to the party, the present state government has adopted a policy of directly purchasing land from owners, transferring it to the BSF for fencing projects and later obtaining reimbursement from the Union government.