SHILLONG, May 7: The Meghalaya government on Tuesday directed two districts bordering Bangladesh to speed up the fencing work, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said.
Speaking to PTI, he said that over 40 km of the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya is unfenced, and the state government wants to complete the work at the earliest, so that the stretch can be guarded by the BSF more effectively.
“I have instructed the deputy commissioners of East Jaintia Hills and West Jaintia Hills, bordering Bangladesh, to speed up the fencing work, considering it the top priority,” he told PTI.
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“You know well the situation in the country as a whole, and especially for us in Meghalaya, living next to Bangladesh is not that conducive, following the terrorist attack at Pahalgam,” he added.
Tynsong said that because of land acquisition issues, these portions remained unfenced.
“About 33-34 km along the border in West Jaintia Hills and 7-8 km in the East Khasi Hills district were having land acquisition issues. These areas remained unfenced,” he said.
BSF’s Meghalaya Frontier Inspector General OP Upadhyay, who attended the high-level meeting chaired by Tynsong, said the force was fully prepared to deal with any situation at the border.
He said the fencing will add more teeth to the troops guarding the border, who are on high alert.
Meanwhile, the Home Guards Office said civil defence mock drills would be conducted across the state on Wednesday evening.
There will be an air raid siren at 6.30 pm, followed by ‘Operation Blackout’ for 2 minutes, it said, urging the public not to panic. (PTI)
