Centre tightens noose

Manas R Bannerjee

MALDA, July 28: The Centre has directed the West Bengal government to instruct the officials of the land custom stations to bar all truck drivers and their assistants from entering Bangladesh with their export-goods laden vehicles, if they do not possess valid visas and passports.Though the Centre had issued the directive to the state government in June this year, it is supposed to come into effect from 1 January, 2007.The state government has directed the DMs of all districts adjoining the Indo-Bangladesh border, where the land customs stations are located, to hasten up the implementation process in view of the national security in the wake of the recent Mumbai bomb blasts. “The state authorities had set 1 January 2007 deadline for the execution of the Centre’s order”, Mr Chittaranjan Das, the Malda DM, said. The Malda district administration today convened a co-ordination meeting with the BSF, CPWD and officials of other concerned departments, such as the police and the local bodies to discuss the ways of implementing the Centre’s directive. In today’s meting, the Malda DM, Mr Das, conveyed the Centre’s message to the exporters and sought the latter’s full co-operation. It may be recalled that the BSF officials have been highlighting the security aspect in the Indo-Bangladesh border area for long and demanding that the truck drivers to cross over Bangladesh without valid documents. The usual custom followed by BSF officials was to check out the truck drivers and their assistants and register their names. The same rule was applied when the truck drivers returned from Bangladesh with their vehicles. In today’s meeting between BSF officials and the administration, the decision was formally announced to implement the Centre’s order of not allowing the truck drivers and their assistants to enter Bangladesh with export-goods laden vehicles if they do not possess visas and passports.Exporters initially expressed their concern over the Centre’s decision, but when the Malda DM requested them to come up with an alternative for the nation’s safety and security, they finally agreed. The BSF officials pointed out that drivers of export-goods laden trucks and their helpers, who generally do not possess identity cards, may pose a serious threat to the country’s security.“There is every possibility that the vehicles would be misused to carry illegal weapons,” the BSF officials claimed. Another important issue highlighted in today’s meeting was the losing of Indian land to Bangladesh because of problems related to the setting up of fences and roads along the Indo-Bangla border.The CPWD representatives present in the meeting were accused of making the border roads much inside the Indian-territory causing a major portion of Indian cultivation land to fall on the side of Bangladesh.“I have instructed the CPWD officials to prepare a list of riverine areas, where the construction of the border fence is not possible. It will help us in any further construction of border fences,” the DM, Mr Das, told The Statesman.