Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has set up the third floating border outpost (BOP) in the Sundarbans area to curb human trafficking, smuggling, robbery, and trespassing in the remote region.
Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury inaugurated the BOP on Saturday at the confluence of the Raimangal River and Boyesing Canal under Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira district.
Director General (DG) of BGB Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, and other senior officials were present.
The BOP is a self-contained operational platform that will strengthen patrol and surveillance in the border areas through waterways, operated by the Riverine Border Guard Company (RBG) of BGB.
Speaking to journalists, the home adviser said Bangladesh and India share a total border of 4,156km, which includes about 180km of riverine boundary, with 79km located in the Sundarbans.
"Maintaining security and patrols in the vast wetland and riverine border areas is challenging. The BOP will help BGB ensure immediate and effective responses to prevent smuggling, human trafficking, forest resource looting, and other border crimes," he said.
Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman said that a large syndicate has long been involved in smuggling activities in the Boyesing Canal.
The third floating BOP has been established to prevent such activities, he said.
The floating BOP was built at a dockyard in Narayanganj. The first floating BOP was set up at Kachhikata in 2013, and the second one at the confluence of the Raimangal River and Atharobeki Canal in the Sundarbans area in 2017.
