NEW DELHI, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Floods in Bangladesh washed away half of border fencing making infiltration to India easy.
"The recent floods in Bangladesh border have washed away any hopes of checking infiltration as half of the fencing along Indo-Bangladesh have washed away making infiltration into India easy, "The Times of India newspaper said Friday.
Indian interior ministry said it had detected a spurt in infiltration through damaged fencing.
"We have decided to increase border outposts and deploy 8,000 more security personnel along the border, "said an interior ministry official.
He admitted attempts were made by infiltrators to cross the fencing damaged due to floods.
"Out of 854 km of fencing erected under Phase-I, 365 km has been damaged due to various reasons like water logging and floods etc, "junior Indian interior minister S. Raghupathy told Indian Parliament.
He said the government has sanctioned 3,656 posts in various ranks under Prevention of Infiltration of Foreign and Mobile Task Force to check illegal infiltration from across the border.
He said the government would carry out a round -the-clock surveillance and increase patrolling on the border.
"We would also deploy observation posts all along the international border and upgrade intelligence network, "the minister said.
The minister said the government would expedite the fencing all along its border with Bangladesh.
New Delhi has been putting pressure on Dhaka to prevent illegal infiltration of its citizens and Muslim fundamentalists to India.
It has also almost completed fencing along its eastern border to stop infiltration.
