On 20th August, the Government of India said in a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha that fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border is pending over 450 km, mostly due to delays in land acquisition in West Bengal. Rajya Sabha MPs Shambhu Sharan Patel and Neeraj Shekhar asked the Ministry of Home Affairs about the extent of fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, delays in land acquisition, and whether lack of fencing has contributed to increased infiltration and cross-border crimes.
Reply by Ministry of Home Affairs
In its reply, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, stated that out of the total 2,216.7 km Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, 1,647.697 km has been fenced. A remaining 569.004 km stretch is pending, of which 112.780 km is classified as non-feasible and the remaining 456.224 km is feasible for fencing and other infrastructure works.
Land acquisition bottlenecks
Rai acknowledged that land acquisition is a major obstacle. While land for 77.935 km has been handed over, acquisition for the remaining 378.289 km is incomplete. Out of the remaining area, 148.971 km is yet to be initiated by the West Bengal government. For the balance 229.318 km, the process is at various stages. For instance, 31.019 km is awaiting State Cabinet approval, 181.635 km is paid for but not handed over, 7.085 km is awaiting valuation by the state, and 9.579 km is pending payment by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The minister added that the Centre is holding regular meetings with the state government over the matter, conducting review visits and releasing payments on time, including for the 181.635 km that has already been cleared.
Infiltration and cross-border crimes
Rai further provided statistics on infiltration and seizures from 1st January 2023 to 31st July 2025 in West Bengal.
During that period, 3,964 infiltrators were apprehended. Seizures included 13,863 kg of narcotics, over 20,000 cattle, more than 724,000 bottles of Phensedyl, 175,000 Yaba tablets, 375.8 kg of gold, and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) worth ₹55.4 lakh.
