West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari told Border Security Force personnel in Hingalganj on 8 November, during Diwali celebrations, that his state will soon finalise a plan to fence riverine stretches of the border with Bangladesh. The proposal, he said, is being prepared by the state’s irrigation and waterways department in consultation with the central public works department.
The chief minister highlighted that West Bengal shares a 2,217km frontier with Bangladesh and that the fencing will target vulnerable riverine sections where infiltrators have previously entered Indian territory.
Adhikari pledged tighter coordination between the West Bengal Police and central security agencies, the creation of additional police stations in border districts, and the speedy completion of the fencing work.
"Infiltrators must be identified, tracked down and sent back along the path through which they had sneaked into Indian territory," he asserted, emphasizing a zero‑tolerance stance.
He claimed that joint operations by the West Bengal Police and the BSF have already prevented more than one lakh potential infiltrators from crossing into India.
"I will make the border watertight," Adhikari declared, signalling a firm commitment to border security.
The chief minister also accused the previous Trinamool Congress administration of failing to cooperate with the BSF by not providing the land needed for fencing along the Bangladesh border.
The announced measures are expected to tighten security along the Indo‑Bangladeshi frontier and could influence bilateral relations between the two neighbours.
Why it matters
The fencing plan seeks to curb cross‑border infiltration, directly impacting security and bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh.