Union home secretary in West Bengal for meeting with state chief secretary

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla is in West Bengal to discuss pending land acquisition cases for the construction of a border fence, road projects and other issues with the chief secretary of the state. Bhalla's visit to Kolkata for a meeting with West Bengal Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi is the first after a row erupted over the summoning of the then state chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay by the Centre for not being present at a cyclone review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May.

The Union home secretary is visiting Kolkata for a meeting with the state chief secretary to discuss pending land acquisition cases for the construction of a border fence and road projects, border outposts and integrated checkposts, a home ministry official said.

West Bengal shares borders with Bangladesh (over 2,200 km), Bhutan (about 183 km) and Nepal (about 100 km).


In May, the Centre had accused Bandyopadhyay, the principal advisor to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, of indulging in conduct that is "unbecoming of an IAS officer" by not attending the cyclone review meeting held by the prime minister.

Bandyopadhyay was asked to report to the Centre but the state government had refused to release the top officer and instead, allowed him to retire on May 31.

Subsequently, he was appointed as the principal advisor to the chief minister.