West Bengal Allocates Land to BSF for Border Fence Construction

Swift Summary

• Teh West Bengal government handed over land along 77 km of the India-Bangladesh border to the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing and infrastructure progress, as informed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on August 20, 2025.
• Land acquisition for another 229.31 km is ongoing, while acquisition for 148.97 km is yet to begin.
• Of West Bengal’s total Indo-Bangladesh border length of 2,216.7 km:

– 1,647.696 km has been fenced so far.
– Of the remaining 569.004 km, 112.780 km is deemed non-feasible for fencing; 456.224 km remains feasible but incomplete due to acquisition delays and administrative hurdles.

• Payment from the Center has been made for over 181 km but awaits land transfer from West bengal authorities; cabinet approval is pending for a stretch of around 31 km.
• Indian authorities apprehended 723 individuals crossing illegally across the West Bengal border in 2025 so far-a significant decrease compared to 1,694 apprehensions in all of last year (2024).
• Land acquisition issues have persisted due to divergence between state policies-the Direct Land Purchase Policy-and national frameworks like LARR Act meant for faster acquisitions.

Indian Opinion Analysis

Border infrastructure along India’s sensitive international boundaries holds critical importance both strategically and in terms of national security management. The partial fencing status along parts of West Bengal’s Indo-Bangladesh boundary reflects administrative challenges compounded by policy differences between state and central governments regarding land acquisition methods.

The statistics-over half a thousand kilometers remaining unfenced-raise concerns about cross-border movements including illegal migrations or other unauthorized activities that could strain local governance systems or security forces such as BSF.

Regular meetings between state and central bodies offer hope that bureaucratic bottlenecks will be smoothed out through constructive engagement and adherence to mutually beneficial timelines rather than prolonged disputes over compensation modalities or procedural delays.

Further handovers will likely impact bilateral ties with Bangladesh positively by demonstrating india’s commitment toward secured borders while maintaining ethical practices regarding acquisitions impacting locals near project sites.

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