Tripura: 93 cr for rehabilitation of fence victims

Agartala, May 7: The Tripura government has demanded Rs 93 crore from the Union government for rehabilitation of the pople who were rendered homeless due to fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

State Finance Minister Badal Choudhury said here today that about 10,000 families of bordering areas had been displaced after fencing of about 400 km.

He said some 13,000 acres of land had already been fenced out.

According to the proposal, each affected family would get Rs 30,000 and the state government would bear at least 25 per cent of the total project cost.

Mr Choudhury, however, appreciated the Union Home Ministry's proposal for purchasing individually owned lands in bordering areas where fencing was to be done.

Indian villagers raised the issue of large-scale eviction from their home and hearth. Accordingly, the Tripura government made an assessment and placed the rehabilitation proposal to the Centre which was accepted.

According to official sources, the alignment drawn for erection of the fence would go through 20 major habitations, including some of the crowded markets and it would leave 70,000 people jobless, as many major markets would also fall outside the fence to maintain the statutory international law of keeping at least 150 yards distance for any permanent construction.

UNI