“Last week, when I visited the land and maritime border in the Great Rann of Kutch and the creek area, I saw how our jawans lived and defended our country in the inhospitable terrain. I felt that the civil administration here could in some way help them in mitigating their difficulties,” said district magistrate and collector, R R Varsani on Monday.

“So, we are organising a meeting on January 18 inviting officials of the Army, the IAF and Border Security Force,” he said.

Varsani said he visited Savlapir, a marshy island in the creek area, which was frequented by Pakistanis during Urs but later came to a halt after the BSF set up its border post here.

"The area has no electricity, no drinking water source, no roads. I think the district administration could provide RO plant and solar lights here," Varsani said, adding that some other border posts he visited faced similar problems. "The very purpose of my January meeting with the armed forces here is to know and try to meet their requirements, like, if they need some land and there are some obstacles, we can immediately solve them," he said.

Varsani said he has already shared the idea with the top brass of the Army and the BSF. He said senior district administration officials should visit the remote so that they can be acquainted with the difficulties the jawans face. "I will make this suggestion in the meeting so that civilian officers are sensitised to be helpful in the sphere of their activities," he said.

He said though while the exact time of the official liaison has not been worked out yet, a semi-official meeting in January would roll out the basic plans to be put in place for the future.