Beyond the Fence: Villagers in Ahio seek development in upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls

Habibpur Border (Ahio): Tangon River separates India and Bangladesh. The houses located on the banks of the river on the Bangladesh side are clearly visible to the Indians. In Habibpur on the Indian side, where the iron fences end, there is a BSF naka police station that keeps a strict guard against infiltrators.

People on the banks of the river have been residing here for more than 40 years. Most of them go to Malda town for work and return to the villages on a daily or weekly basis. Despite being a border area, many villagers said there was “no problem of infiltration” into the area. However, they noted the lack of development here. People complained about the region’s lack of basic healthcare infrastructure, as the only primary health center remained closed for more than 15 years after the doctor there retired. The Primary Health Center in Ahio served 18,000 people.

Debi Halder, who lives adjacent to the Primary Health Center building, told ET: “Now for any ailment, we have to go to the nearest hospital, Bulbulchandi hospital. For serious ailments, people get help from private practitioners in Ahio Bazar. Earlier, only a Rs 1 ticket was needed to see a doctor at this health centre.”

Former MP pradhan (upo-pradhan) Pratap Das said, “I tried hard at various levels to reopen the health centre, but to no avail.” Many of the residents had arrived as Hindu refugees during Partition or during the Bangladesh war in 1971. Utpal Saha, who runs a pharmacy in the Ahio Bazar area, said he studied at Pabna school in Bangladesh. “My family had migrated and we have lived in the Ahio area for over 50 years. I had opened a pharmacy 40 years ago,” Utpal Saha told ET. “There is some infiltration in Habibpur. They start by running errands, take shelter in the local neighbor’s house and then go to Malda for work. But with the BSF vigil right now, it is quite low,” he said.

The fact that the adhan recited in Bangladesh can be heard in Ahio Bazar explains its proximity to the Indian side. Locals claim that infiltration is a major problem in other parts of Habibpur, though not particularly in Ahio. Union home minister Amit Shah highlighted the problem of infiltration and delay in fencing due to land acquisition issues in Bengal.

Last year, fencing work in Malda, near the Bangladesh border, had to be suspended due to differences between the Bangladesh Border Guard and the BSF. Malda shares a 172 km long border with Bangladesh, of which 31.5 km is unprotected.