NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to the governments of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, asking them to coordinate with the Assam Rifles in preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for installing fences along the remaining stretches of the India-Myanmar border to further fortify the frontiers, officials said on Tuesday.
The MHA, in its letter, highlighted the urgent need to speed up the preparation of DPRs for the remaining stretches in Arunachal Pradesh (480 km) and Manipur (243 km) on a priority basis. This will allow for the expedited construction of the fences, they added.
In identical letters to the Chief Secretaries of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, the MHA requested that they hold meetings and discussions with the Assam Rifles, Border Roads Organisation, and other concerned departments to finalize the locations and alignment of the fencing stretches.
In one of his ‘X’ posts, Member of the Manipur Legislative Assembly Rajkumar Imo Singh said, “In a major decision by the Central Government regarding the fencing of the Indo-Myanmar border, the Union Home Ministry has instructed to expedite the entire border fencing construction work by conducting surveys and aligning the stretches along the Indo-Myanmar border, especially the Manipur stretch of 243 km.”
He further stated, “The Chief Minister shared this intimation letter on the floor of the House. While one may not be satisfied with all the measures of the Central Government to bring peace and normalcy to Manipur, important steps have been taken for the welfare of the indigenous people of the state. These steps include identifying illegal migrants, removing FMR to stop the free movement of people into our country, constructing the border fencing to prevent illegal migrants and refugees from entering our country, and transferring some units of paramilitary forces that were becoming a major hurdle to peace in the state.”
Four northeastern states—Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km), and Mizoram (510 km)—share a 1,643-km unfenced border with Myanmar.