Kendrapara: There have been allegations that Bangladesh nationals are infiltrating into the coastal pockets of Kendrapara via sea route with the help of their relatives in the state.
Those in charge of coastal security have failed to identify them due to their similarity in physical appearance and language with that of locals.
Now, the district administration is set to carry out an enumeration drive to identify Bangladeshis staying in Rajnagar and Mahakalapara blocks, after the state government directed the administration to identify them, said Collector Reghu G.
The last enumeration had been carried out in 2004 in the district and 1,684 Bangladeshis were identified, said additional SP Bikash Chandra Mohapatra. But unofficial reports say number won’t be less than 20,000.
Meanwhile, the Collector has directed the revenue, police, fisheries and forest departments to conduct the operation jointly. Door to door surveys will be carried out by the team and it would check the documents of people to identify Bangladeshis, said Mahakalpara tehsildar Nilamadhab Bhoi.
The Collector has also asked the BLOs (booth level officers) to remove the names of Bangla migrants from voters’ lists. Earlier, 137 Bangladeshis who were served Quit India notices managed to enlist their names in the lists.
The population in several coastal hamlets in Mahakalapara block has increased substantially as Bangladeshis have proved a major vote bank for local politicians. The intruders are destroying the region’s fragile eco system and involved in various illegalities
It would be difficult to identify them as many Bangla migrants have managed to change their surnames in the past by paying bribes, said a senior officer.
The influx of Bangladeshis into the coastal patches along the Mahanadi deltaic region, which has the country’s second largest mangrove, started in the seventies and it has posed a headache to the local administration.
Sources said Bangladeshis infiltrated into Kendrapara in two phases. The influx started in 1947 during partition and after the Bangladeshi Liberation war in 1971. The maximum influx happened during the 1980s and through the sea route.
Official sources said in 1956, nearly 1,250 Bangla immigrants were rehabilitated as registered refugees and resettled in the coastal pockets of Mahakalapara and Rajnagar blocks. During the 1980s the number of migrants was only 20,000, but now their number has doubled.
Most of the Bangla illegals are coming from the districts of Jessore, Khulna, Barishal and Faridpur of Bangladesh and getting settled in Kajalapatia, Batighar, Jamboo, Kharanashi, Ramnagar villages.
It may be noted that on being directed by the Centre, the state had slapped Quit India notice under Section-3 of the Foreigners Act, 1948, on at least 1,551 Bangladeshis, who had come to coastal villages after December 16, 1971 and have been staying in the coastal pockets of Mahakalapara block.
PNN