Demolish all illegal structures within 15 km of international border: Amit Shah

Story by PTI | Posted by Vidushi Gaur | Date 27-05-2026

Home Minister Amit Shah

New Delhi

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed authorities to demolish all illegal constructions within 15 kilometres of India’s international borders and strictly enforce a “zero tolerance” policy against encroachments and cross-border crimes.

The directive was issued during a high-level security review meeting chaired by Shah in Bikaner on Tuesday to assess security arrangements in Rajasthan’s border districts adjoining Pakistan.

According to officials, the Ministry of Home Affairs has expanded the responsibilities of district magistrates in border regions. They have been tasked with ensuring legal and financial scrutiny of banking transactions, verifying major business establishments, examining funding sources, tracking mule accounts and shell companies, identifying fake Aadhaar cards, and curbing smuggling networks.

The meeting was attended by Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, senior state officials, and district magistrates and superintendents of police from Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sri Ganganagar and Phalodi.

Shah stressed the need for a “360-degree security cover” for every border district by involving citizens, local administration and security agencies. He also called for stronger coordination among agencies such as the Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and state authorities to tackle infiltration, narcotics smuggling, terror financing and other trans-border crimes.

The home minister specifically instructed officials to ensure strict implementation of the zero-tolerance policy against illegal constructions, especially within the 0–15 km belt along the international border, and ordered that all such structures built over the years be demolished.

Officials said the districts were also directed to study the roots and patterns of crimes and the drug menace in border areas and formulate long-term preventive measures.

Shah further emphasised the effective implementation of the Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP)-II to strengthen governance in border villages, bridge infrastructure gaps and support local populations. He also called for 100 per cent saturation of welfare schemes in these areas and urged greater use of the ‘1930’ helpline to combat cybercrime.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said the progress on these measures would be reviewed again after two months, with an expectation of “result-oriented action” from district administrations.