Barbed fence along IB to be shifted, says Dhaliwal

Amritsar, January 15

The barbed fence alongside the International Border with Pakistan will be shifted to help farmers tilling their lands across the fence. This was claimed by Cabinet minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal here on Sunday. The Rural Development and Panchayat Minister said the state government had earlier taken up the matter with Union Home Minister Amit Shah who agreed to the proposal.

Hundreds of farmers cultivate thousands of acres of land across the border fence as a result of which they have to face many inconveniences. They have to follow the restricted timings and other security checks of the BSF. The government is also giving Rs 10,000 per acre per year compensation to these farmers for their troubles.

The minister stated that with the relocation of the barbed fence, most of the land currently on the other side would come to this side and as such the owners of these fields would be able to till their land without any trouble.

Dhaliwal lamented that these minor problems faced by the farmers could have been resolved 50 years ago if successive governments had taken any notice.