A certain clause in an agreement signed in 1974 between India and Bangladesh government has become a cause of discord in construction of border fencing by the government of India along India Bangladesh border in Assam and Meghalaya.
The clause of the agreement says that border fencing along India-Bangladesh border could be constructed inside Indian territory 150 yards away from the zero line. However, when India started construction of fencing along the Bangladesh frontier it found out that leaving 150 yards between the Zero line and the fencing is not possible in many places because of geographical and sometimes historical reasons.
In some areas along the frontier, places of worship are located right near the zero line making it impossible to construct the fencing 150 yards away from the zero line. In a preliminary survey, the Home Ministry and the Border Security Force have stumbled upon 46 such patches where the fencing cannot be constructed as per the India- Bangladesh agreement of 1974.
The government of India has been trying to get the nod of Bangladesh government for construction of the fencing nearer to the zero line in those patches. A joint survey will be conducted by officials from India and Bangladesh soon to assess the situation on the ground.
A team of Home Ministry officials visited such patches in Meghalaya last month while central teams would be sent to visit all the 46 identified laces along the frontier with Bangladesh.
A joint working group of India and Bangladesh is likely to take up the issue of adverse possession of land along the India-Bangladesh frontier. As on date 551 acres of Bangladesh land is under adverse possession of India while 226 acres of Indian land is under adverse possession of Bangladesh along Assam-Meghalaya sector along the international border.
However, an official source informed that Bangladesh's attitude towards solving the issue has softened after the change of regime in Dhaka early this year.