Shillong: India and Bangladesh have agreed to carry out a joint survey along the international border in Assam and Meghalaya, BSF (Border Security Force) inspector general S C Srivastava said today (Nov 26, 2004).

Addressing a press conference in Shillong on the occasion of its 39th Raising day, Srivastava said that the survey would be carried out by the Survey of India and Bangladesh Survey from December 8 to March next year.

The survey, he said, would be done in those areas where the boundary pillars are found missing, broken or washed away by rivers.

The authorities had maps and equipment to determine the exact position of those pillars, he said.

The BSF IG said so far 289.963 km of the international border had been fenced and work was in progress in 130.518 km of the total sanctioned 478.560 km area of the Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland frontier.

However, he said that there was problem of erecting fence along the riverine border as a result of frequent washing away of the fence due to soil erosion.

Besides guarding the border, 20 companies of the BSF have been deployed in various districts of Assam since Oct 8 last to assist the civil authorities in maintaining law and order situation, he said.