Bangladesh has encroached upon 500 hectares of Assam's land:Minister

Guwahati, Jul 15 (UNI) Bangladesh has encroached upon 500 hectares of Indian territory in Assam, state Revenue Minister Dr Bhumidhar Burman informed the Assam Assembly.

Expressing concern on the matter, the minister said, ''Bangladesh is in possession of 500 hectare area stretching from Dhubri to Karimganj part near the border.'' The state government has already informed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) about the development and the MEA is also taking up the matter with the Bangladesh government.

Dr Burman also alleged that another 87,000 hectares of Assam's land had been encroached upon by Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and West Bengal.

However, all these states have termed the land as ''disputed'' and several rounds of bilateral negotiations were on.

Dr Burman also informed that the total length of the Indo-Bangla border in Assam is 267.30 kms out of which 107 kms is riverine and 160.3 kms land.

A 144.30 km long barbed wire has been erected on the boundary to stop infiltration.

He also informed that remaining work of the fencing in the border would be completed by October.

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