Manipur ramps up border security with 34 police outposts to check infiltration from neighbouring countries

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has revealed that the establishment of 34 police outposts in border areas to prevent infiltration from neighboring countries is underway, with some almost completed.

During the ongoing budget session of the 12th assembly in Imphal on Friday, Singh responded to a question by opposition Congress MLA Kangujam Ranjit Singh, stating that the Ministry of Home Affairs had approved the initiative. 

Manipur shares a 398 km long international border with Myanmar, and Singh disclosed that 393 Myanmar nationals were apprehended in the state between January 1, 2012, and the present day. One was deported, 107 are in judicial custody, 105 are in detention centers, and 180 were released on bail. In addition to biometric surveillance and house-to-house Aadhaar verification, the state government has taken other measures to curb illegal migration.

In Churachandpur district, which borders Myanmar, Manipur police arrested 10 Myanmar nationals on February 5 this year for illegally entering and taking shelter in Manipur. Among those arrested, six were women and four were men, and most of them were from Monywa.

During the session, opposition member K Ranjit Singh asked about irrigation of paddy fields, to which Chief Minister Biren Singh replied that Minor Irrigation and Water Resource Departments have provided irrigation facilities to 46,512 hectares of agricultural land. Singh also noted that the extraction of groundwater through tube wells, rainwater harvesting, and the construction of check dams at the foothills are being taken up to provide continued irrigation facilities. 

Regarding land registration, opposition member Th Lokeshwar Singh inquired about the verification process for land buyers, to which Biren Singh stated that a cabinet sub-committee verifies whether they are indigenous people of Manipur and strict rules are in place to protect the state's land from outside