Srinagar, June 10: The paramilitary BSF has agreed to pay the rentals of the land acquired by it in the frontier areas in 2003, sources told Greater Kashmir on Thursday.   
They said the State Government was pursuing the issue of rentals for past two and half years. “BSF has agreed to pay the compensation to the farmers whose land it had acquired after operation Parakaram,” a senior government official said.
“In 2003-2004 the situation was very bad and people cooperated with the security forces to raise the fencing. But the neighboring country was creating hindrance and it forced the BSF to raise a mound to safeguard them from the firing. The fence was not raised on the border but deep inside our territory. This way large chunk of land from the border to the fence became inaccessible for farmers,” said the official.
“Despite guns falling silent fencing remained intact following which farmers raised the issue of compensation and rentals with officials,” he added.
He said after several meetings, the BSF has agreed to provide compensation to the farmers. “Some 6,000 families in Jammu region have been directly affected by the fencing,” he added.
The official said the state government had taken up the issue with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Subsequently he said, “The BSF has agreed to provide the compensation. All documents in this regard have been prepared.”
The BSF has fenced five districts in Jammu and Kashmir bordering Pakistan with 2,571 acres of land coming under it
Flood lights and three-tier border fencing has been constructed along the nearly 200-kms long International Border (IB) in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch. However, the BSF has not paid any compensation to farmers whose lands it had acquired. 

Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST