Trinamool’s land policy delayed West Bengal border fencing: MHA’s 2023 affidavit in Supreme Court

One of the key reasons behind the delay in land acquisition to erect fences along the Bangladesh border in West Bengal was the policy followed by the former Trinamool Congress government, according to a 2023 affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Supreme Court.

The MHA had, through an affidavit, informed the Supreme Court that the West Bengal government had not adopted the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR Act), 2013, under which the government can take possession of any land needed for a public purpose.

The State Government instead followed a Direct Land Purchase Policy, enacted in 2016, even for national security projects such as border fencing. Under the policy, zilla parishads or municipal corporations would acquire land from land owners for important infrastructure projects such as “food godowns, roads, bridges, etc.”, which were “not fully commissioned for want of small parcels of land”. Funds were allotted to the municipal body or the zilla parishad by the administrative department, which would then make the payment to the landowner.

Then Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, in the affidavit, said, “The West Bengal Government follows a far slower, more complex Direct Land Purchase Policy even for national security projects such as border fencing. Due to the non-cooperation from the State government regarding resolving various issues of land acquisition, considerable delays have occurred in acquiring the necessary land, thereby impeding the timely completion of fencing in West Bengal along Indo Bangladesh border, which is a vital national security project.”

On May 11, soon after assuming power in the State for the first time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government announced that it had decided to transfer land to the Border Security Force (BSF) within the next 45-days.

According to submissions made before the Calcutta High Court in January, the West Bengal Government had handed over 78 km of border land to the BSF over the past three years, while 121 km of border length was yet to be transferred. Of the 285.25 km border length required by the BSF across the nine districts, including Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Cooch Behar, the State Cabinet had given clearance for 256 km.

Data presented before the court showed that the land purchase, measuring around 269 acres along 48.49 km of border, had been completed but was yet to be handed over to the BSF. The purchase and acquisition of around 1,156 acres remained pending, the data further showed.

While hearing a public interest litigation, the Calcutta High Court asked the counsels of the State and the Union Government “regarding applicability and feasibility of acquisition by invoking Section 40 of the Act of 2013.”

Section 40 of the 2013 Act, “in cases of urgency,” enables the appropriate government to take possession of any land needed for a public purpose. The total length of the Indo–Bangladesh border in West Bengal is 22,16.7 km, out of which 1,647.696 km has already been covered by fence.

The MHA informed Parliament last year that of the remaining 569.004 km, which is yet to be covered by fence and other border infrastructure work, 112.780 km is non-feasible for fencing and 456.224 km is feasible for construction of fencing and related work.