The border fence at Bhogdanga in Dhubri district.
Guwahati, Aug 23 : The Opposition’s rising pitch on non-implementation of the 1985 Assam Accord has prompted Dispur to call a meeting where all agencies involved in fencing the state’s border will thrash out solutions to meet the December deadline.
Though the state’s Implementation of Assam Accord department had convened such review meetings on the accord in the past, sources in the department today said the August 27 meeting assumes significance because it is rare for all agencies to meet together on the issue.
Assam shares a 267.330km of border with Bangladesh, of which 160.130km is on land and 107km is riverine.
Besides the state PWD, two central agencies — the National Building Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) and the National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC) — are involved in the work.
Fencing the border is necessary to check influx — a key clause of the Assam Accord.
The need for the high-level meeting arose after the agencies missed two deadlines — March 2009 and March 2010 — to complete the fencing.
This time, minister Bhumidhar Barman has asserted that fencing work would be completed by December and all clauses of the Accord would be implemented within three years, after the Opposition began targeting both Dispur and Delhi for having failed to implement the pact signed 25 years ago.
The review will strive to find the “exact” position of the progress, the “hurdles” in carrying out construction activities and offer “practical” solutions to overcome these.
“As on day, only 10 per cent of the work remain. But we want to find the exact status because there is always a gross mismatch between answers provided in writing and answers provided during face-to-face interaction. We hope the meeting will help prepare an effective roadmap so that it (fencing) can be completed within the set deadline or else it could boomerang on the government in the election year,” a source said.
Besides senior officials from the home, industry and commerce, PWD and water resources departments, BSF IG R.C. Saxena, group general manager of the NBCC, R.L. Mehra, and zonal manager of NPCC, V.P. Mishra, will be part of the meeting.
The deputy commissioners of three border districts — Dhubri, Karimganj and Cachar — have also been invited for the stock-taking session.
Since 2006, NBCC and NPCC have been engaged in construction of new roads, fencing and reconstruction of damaged parts.
Of the 46.35km of fencing assigned to the NBCC, it has completed around 39km and of the 34.45km road, it has completed around 25km.
Both agencies are also at their task of reconstructing 144.781km of damaged fence, of which around 88km has been completed. Work on 58km is under way.
“The state PWD has completed the fencing assigned to it except for a small stretch of less than a kilometre that involves bridges/sluice gates,” a source added.
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