35,000 people to be hit by border fencing in Mizoram
September 27th, 2010 - 9:40 pm ICT by IANS
Aizawl, Sep 27 (IANS) Over 35,000 people from 45 villages near the India-Bangladesh border need to be rehabilitated to facilitate the fencing of the frontier in Mizoram, state Home Minister R. Lalzirliana said Monday.
“The union home ministry has asked the state government to relocate residents of the border villages and we have requested the Centre to provide funds to rehabilitate them,” the minister said replying to queries of lawmakers in the assembly.
“We are waiting for the home ministry’s response on the issue. The state government had approached Home Minister P. Chidambaram when he visited the northeastern state earlier this year,” the minister said.
Public sector undertakings - National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL), National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) - are fencing 318-km international border in the state.
People, mostly tribals, affected by the fencing on the India-Bangladesh frontier have been occasionally organising protests demanding their rehabilitation.
A Mizoram home ministry official told reporters that the protesters had also called shutdowns on a number of occasions in Mizoram’s four eastern districts of Lawngtla, Lungle, Mamit and Saiha demanding compensation.
The central government is fencing India’s 4,095-km-long border with Bangladesh running through five states - West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram - to curb infiltration, smuggling, trans-border movement of militants and other anti-national activities.
Around 2,900 km of fencing has so far been completed.
- Fencing-affected border residents of Mizoram go on strike - Apr 06, 2010
- Bangladesh against fencing at border zero-line: Sarkar - Mar 05, 2012
- Tripura offers land, housing to poor families - Jul 05, 2012
- Tripura residents affected by fencing continue strike - Feb 04, 2011
- Tripura locals affected by fencing vow to intensify stir - Feb 12, 2011
- Six abducted by militants in Mizoram - Mar 26, 2012
- India to erect single row fence along Bangladesh border - Sep 18, 2012
- Tripura seeks fencing on actual border - Nov 25, 2011
- Tripura villagers affected by border fencing to step up stir - May 12, 2011
- Bangladesh relaxes norms for India to erect border fence - Apr 08, 2011
- No trace of hostages, fencing work stops - Apr 02, 2012
- PM's Bangladesh visit to resolve outstanding issues: BSF - Mar 03, 2011
- Bangladeshi, trooper caught in Tripura handed back - Jul 06, 2012
- Displaced persons from India- Bangladesh border stages a protest rally in Agartala - Feb 15, 2011
- India to intensify vigil along border with Myanmar, Bangladesh - May 12, 2010
Tags: aizawl, border fencing, border movement, border roads, border villages, construction corporation, engineering projects, epil, home minister, india limited, international border, meghalaya, ministry official, national projects, northeastern state, npcc, p chidambaram, public sector undertakings, union home ministry, west bengal