Dawki, June 8: The Border Security Force (BSF) has warned of another Pyrdiwah-like crisis along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya if patrolling continues to be hampered by the poor condition of roads in the area.
BSF officials admitted that the skirmish with Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troops at Pyrdiwah two years ago did not take place only because roads and bridges were in bad shape. However, poor road connectivity did contribute to the border crisis, they said.
Bangladesh troops captured a BSF post in Pyrdiwah on May 15, 2001, causing a standoff on the border.
It led to an even bigger crisis in the Mancachar sector of the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam?s Dhubri district.
BSF officials said the 20-km stretch of road from Dawki to Muktapur ? the lifeline of the border areas ? was in abysmal condition, making it nearly impossible for forces to patrol the porous border.
The road, which an official described as ?vital from the security point of view?, was handed over to the Meghalaya government by the Border Roads Organisation six years ago and has since seen very little repair. The bridges, especially, are in bad condition.
BSF deputy inspector general (operations), B.S. Shekhawat, said: ?The condition of the road is so bad that we can?t take our vehicles to some strategic points in this highly sensitive belt.?
A wooden bridge near Borohill, which links Dawki with Lyngkhat, was damaged nearly two years ago but the state government has yet to repair it, citing paucity of funds.
It takes only 10 minutes to reach Lyngkhat from Dawki under normal circumstances. However, now it takes more than an hour because the broken bridge has forced people to take the longer route through Pynnursla, the BSF officer said.
Another vital link to Lyngkhat and Pyrdiwah and Muktapur through the Ichamati-Bholaganj-tukku-Nayabazar route, popularly called the limestone route, is in an equally bad shape.
In spite of the grim situation, the state government has shown no urgency in improving the condition of these roads.
?We are fully aware that the conditions of the roads in Pyrdiwah and Lyngkhat are in poor shape and can be major security threat. But we do not have money to repair and maintain them,? said border areas development minister K.K. Dkhar.
Dkhar said the state government has asked the Centre to release funds for developing the border roads as well as the entire stretch known as the Amlarem-Dawki-Muktapur road to Bangladesh.