BSF takes over repair of Bangladesh border pillars from state PWDs
Sources said this means that if one border pillar on the 4,096-km border is maintained by the BSF, the other one would be maintained by BGB. (Representational) Sources said this means that if one border pillar on the 4,096-km border is maintained by the BSF, the other one would be maintained by BGB. (Representational)
Tired of delays on the part of PWDs in various states in repairing border pillars, the BSF has taken the work on the India-Bangladesh border into its own hands. The BSF will now carry out repair and maintenance of all the India-Bangladesh border pillars on “odd-even basis” in collaboration with the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB). Sources said this means that if one border pillar on the 4,096-km border is maintained by the BSF, the other one would be maintained by BGB. “We have been maintaining (border)
pillars on the Pakistan side. We proposed to the government and the Ministry of External Affairs that we would want to do that on the Bangladesh side as well because the state PWDs, which were given the task of maintaining these pillars, were not doing a very good job,” BSF DG K K Sharma said.
He said the government, with the concurrence of state governments, has agreed to give this work to the BSF. “Taking this as an example, the BGB has asked their home ministry to give this task to them and has got in-principle approval,” Sharma said.
The BSF DG said the border pillars were not in good condition. “We will maintain one (pillar) and the other one will be maintained by the BGB,” he said. The decision was taken at the end of the five-day biannual director general (DG)-level talks between the BSF and BGB in Delhi. The BGB delegation, led by its DG Maj Gen Abul Hossain, arrived in Delhi on October 2.
New Delhi
Asked about other major takeaways of the meeting, the BSF chief said the work to erect a single-row fence in many places along this border was progressing well and that they were “awaiting” approval from the Bangladesh government for creating this fence at the remaining few locations. The new fence is aimed at securing more than 250 villages located between the border and a barbed wire fencing 150 metres away. “It will stop criminal activities on both sides,” Sharma said.
For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App