Radars to help check infiltration from B'desh

In a bid to contain infiltration from Bangladesh through the waterways of Sundarbans, the coastal security department is installing radars and cameras to maintain a strict vigil on the area.

“The coastal security department of the state has identified nine places along the Sunderbans coastal area for installing radars and cameras and expenses for the set up will be borne by the Union government,” a state home department official told Deccan Herald.

“Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde came here on a two-day visit and surveyed the entire area personally. In a meeting with top officers thereafter, he asked them to identify the spots where cameras and radars could be installed,” the official said.

“The coastal security department has already identified the spots and we will have a meeting with them very shortly. Once the spots are finalised, we will send a report to the central government for final clearance,” he added.
Besides, the check post at Namkhana in South 24-Parganas was shifted to Hemnagar in North 24-Parganas to strengthen vigil on ships coming from Bangladesh.

According to a Union home ministry report, prepared by its department of border management, Bengal shares a 2,217 km border with Bangladesh. In 2005, the Centre identified a stretch of 1,528 km to be protected from infiltration and smuggling by erecting barbed fences. The work was to be completed by March 2010. However, in the last seven years, only 1,219 km has been fenced. Thus, 309 km of the border remains unguarded.

This is the longest unfenced stretch along the 4,097 km international border that Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Bengal collectively share with Bangladesh.  Around 9 km of the border with Assam stands unfenced, while 90 km and 126 km remains vulnerable in Meghalaya and Tripura respectively.