GUWAHATI, Sept 29 � India may soon face additional burden of population even after losing land in the recent land swap deal with Bangladesh as the persons to be affected in the deal will be given an opportunity to choose their nationality. Meanwhile, India has lost more land than it gained as per the recent agreement with Bangladesh.
Highly placed sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told The Assam Tribune that as per the recent agreement, the persons to be affected by the land swap would be given a chance to decide whether they would like to stay with India or Bangladesh. As per a recent survey, around 51,000 people would be affected directly in the land swap deal and the possibility of majority of them opting to become Indian nationals cannot be ruled out. In such a case, India will have to take additional burden of population even after losing land to Bangladesh.
Sources admitted that India would be losers in the land swap deal signed in presence of Prime Ministers of both the countries. There were as many as 111 enclaves of India in possession of Bangladesh and only 51 enclaves of Bangladesh in possession of India. As per the agreement, both the countries would retain the enclaves in their possession and India would lose more land than it gained.
Sources revealed that as per the survey, 17,157 acres of India�s land would go to Bangladesh, while, India would gain only 7160 acres. The major gain for India will be in the Pyrdwah area in Meghalaya where India would gain around 320 acres of land. The area was in adverse possession of India and the people of the area also wanted to stay in India. The area also witnessed skirmishes between the border guarding forces of both the countries from time to time and in 2001, the Bangladesh Army personnel encircled the Border Security Force (BSF) outpost, leading to serious tension all along the international border.
MHA sources said that there were two patches of land in Assam, which were in adverse possession of Bangladesh for years� Boraibari area in Dhubri district and Palatol in Karimganj district. The area involved in Boraibari is around 160 acres and it is around 360 acres in Palatal. Bangladesh will get both these areas as per the agreement. Sources pointed out that those patches were not in possession of India but as per the map, India lost both these patches of land.
Sources said that 6.5 kilometers of international border in three patches were not demarcated which led to problems from time to time and as per the recent agreement, all these three patches have been demarcated. In recent times, Bangladesh tried to encroach upon India�s land in those areas by taking advantage of the failure of both the countries to demarcate the international border and Bangladesh even tried to claim that the area was in their adverse possession. But after a survey by both the countries, those problems have been solved.
Meanwhile, sources said that the agreement would have to be ratified by the Parliament of both the countries before the land swap comes into effect.
