Jt border survey stumbles again
Indian border people resist teams
Indo-Bangla joint survey of the Sylhet-Meghalaya border has stumbled again.
Bangladesh survey team members could not go ahead with their job on the Protappur-Padua border in the face of resistance by the Indians on the fourth day of the resumption of the work yesterday.
"Our survey men tried their best to run the job but failed," said Additional Deputy Commissioner, Revenue, Sylhet Ahmed Shamim Al Razi, who is coordinating the survey work.
There was also a discord with our people with the Indian survey team over the survey line and points on Protappur-Padua frontier, he added.
Asked about the fate of the survey on Protappur border, he said that the matter would now be brought to the notice of higher authorities, including the department of survey and the ministry of home affairs.
The official informed that the survey team went to the border at about 10:30am yesterday. But they could not reach the adversely possessed lands (APL), close to the border pillar 1271, in the face of resistance by Indians. Waiting for over two hours they had to come back, he said.
A survey team member said, "we waited near the troubled lands for over two hours but could not reach the spot as the BSF did not allow us. It happened for the fourth day yesterday”, he added.
Sources said, over 200 acres of land are under Indian possession for long on the said border. The BDR and BSF locked in several clashes and traded thousands of gunshots during the last few years. In 2001, BDR captured a part of the area, but they had to retreat later.
The border people are opposing the survey as they fear that the lands would be handed over to the Indians in the name of joint survey.
The joint survey on the APL on the said borders was suspended on several occasions since 20 June in the face of protests by border people at different points. However it resumed 13 July after the administration held several view exchange meetings with the locals to allay their fear.
The officials told the locals that the survey is being held to resolve problems, not be hand over their lands to Indians.
However, the locals demanded that the joint survey must be done in a transparent way.
Started on 7 December last year, the joint survey was to be completed by 15 January. However, the time was extended several times with the last one till 30 June.
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