People complain of Bangladesh Rifles attrocities

Agartala, Sept 16: It is a common phenomenon here that the people residing along the international border with Bangladesh have to face attrocities by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

Villagers living on the banks of the Fenni river in Sabroom Sub-division in South Tripura are the worst suffers and this has been admitted by Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz.

Ujjal Biswas, a farmer, alleged that due to the change in course of the Fenni river some years back, he lost about 28 acres of land. ''Earlier, the Fenni used to flow far away for the present position. But, now the Bangladeshi authorities claim it as their land. We have lodged complaints several times. Whenever any Indian authority comes to demarcate the boundary, there is stiff opposition from the BDR. Sometimes they fire on us if we try to move to the disputed areas,'' he adds.

Another villager Rabindra Kumar Patari alleged that the embankment work on the Fenni river is of a poor quality. He showed that cement slabs used for the embankment breaks with a soft hit.

He said embankment work along the Bangladesh side was completed long before and there is no erosion on their side. ''If the Government does not act now, we will loose whatever land we possess,'' he said.

Some boundary pillars constructed by the Bangladesh Government to demarcate the boundary can be seen at a distance. But the local villagers as well as the Border Security Force personnel claim that these pillars do not delimit the International boundary. ''The actual boundary is far inside the Bangladeshi territory. They have claimed the land as the river has changed its course,'' said a BSF officer.

''The river was supposed to be the boundary between the two countries earlier. The char area which was formed due to the change in course by the Fenni is the point of dispute. Bangladesh government claims the land which was created after the change in course of the river,'' he said.

He said, ''The problem at Muhuri Char in Belonia sub-division is also the same. The Bangladesh Government has already constructed river embankment on this river. But they are opposing the construction on the Indian side on the pretext that the land belongs to Bangladesh.'' ''We are not in a position to construct the embankment as the BDR starts firing indiscriminately whenever we try to do it,'' said an official of the Water Resource Department.

He alleged that 23 minor lift irrigation projects as well as embankment works are stalled due to stiff opposition from the Bangladesh Government.

Bangladesh Water Resource Minister Hafizuddin Ahmed has agreed to discuss the problem during the coming Joint River Commission (JRC) meeting to be held in Dhaka on September 19 and 20. ''I hope some positive results will come out from the JRC meeting. Problems of the common people dwelling of both sides of the boundary will be given utmost importance,'' Mr Ahmed said.

UNI

Related Stories