Fencing along the India-Bangladesh border and timely completion of the eastern freight corridor are among topics which are likely to be on the agenda of Eastern Zonal Council meeting convened by Union home minister Amit Shah at Nabanna here on Saturday.

Sources in Nabanna said Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and his Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee were scheduled to be present at the meeting. The chief ministers of Bihar and Odisha are likely to send their representatives to the session.

“The most important issue of the meeting is likely to be the completion of wired fencing along the India-Bangladesh border. This apart, issues related to eastern states which could not be resolved earlier, will be taken up at the meeting,” said a senior government official.

The most important issue that Shah is likely to take up with Mamata is the fencing of the border between Bengal and Bangladesh. Of the 2,216km of the border, 1,638km is already covered with wire fencing. The Centre is laying stress on erecting barbed fencing along another 150km of the frontier at the earliest. The rest of the frontier cannot be fenced as the border runs through rivers or has technical problems like the existence of villages within 150 meters from the boundary.

“The state has been given the responsibility to buy land directly from the owners. Funds have already been sent to the state, but the required land has not been handed over to the CPWD for fencing.... The problems the state is facing in handing over the land will be discussed at the meeting,” said a source.

A source said land had already been identified by the state for a large stretch but the topography of the areas and some legal hurdles are delaying the handover process.

In addition to fencing, the issue of speedy completion of the eastern freight corridor between Ludhiana in Punjab and Dankuni in Bengal is also scheduled to come up during the meeting.

“The Centre wants to complete the project by the end of 2023. There are some land-related issues in Jharkhand and Bihar. Once these issues are sorted out, the project can give a big boost to the economy of this part of the country,” said an official.

Moreover, maintenance of dams located in Jharkhand, which often cause deluge in Bengal when they release huge water, will also come up at the meeting as the Bengal government has been demanding the renovation and proper upkeep of the reservoirs.

Issues related to railway projects are also likely to be taken up at the meeting as there are allegations the railways don’t get enough assistance from some eastern states, including Bengal, in securing land for its projects.

Shah and Mamata will be attending a meeting together for the first time since the 2021 Assembly polls. The Trinamul Congress repeatedly alleged that central investigation agencies were targeting leaders of Bengal’s ruling party in various cases at the instruction of Shah.