Border survey on to end row with India

After a long wait, Bangladesh and India have initiated a process to end a five-decade row over a river island in south Tripura. Surveyors of both countries are engaged in demarcating the boundary at Muhurichar, the disputed 66-acre piece of land for which border forces on both sides have fought on numerous occasions in the past five decades. The surveyors assisted by the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) are marking the border for the past couple of days, The Hindu reports from Agartala on Sunday. Quoting BSF’s 89 battalion Commandant Sanjay Sharma, the report said, “Temporary pillars are being set up at every point demarcated and the process is expected to take five days to complete.” In 1964, security forces of India and erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, first exchanged fire over Muhurichar after it surfaced following erosion in the river Muhuri. The last skirmish that went for continuous three days was in 1999 after which border forces agreed to maintain status quo, according to UNB.