Fencing will have cameras to capture pictures of intruders
The Centre has sanctioned the replacement of old fencing along the India-Bangladesh border with newly designed fencing which will be more effective.
Border Security Force (BSF) Guwahati Frontier IGP Dinesh Kumar Yadav revealed the plan recently.
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“Work has already started in Gopalganj in Cooch Behar of West Bengal and the government has sanctioned the first phase of the project for the Dhubri sector to cover 44 km border,” Yadav said talking to the media on the occasion of raising day of the force.
He explained that multiple patches have been replaced and now only newly designed fencing will be installed on the border. The entire border under Guwahati Frontier covering 509 km will be covered within 2024.
“Fencing at some patches is very old which can help the intruders to enter into Indian borders. Each fencing will have a camera to capture pictures of intruders. The project will be under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS),” he said.
Under CIBMS, the BSF has installed Israeli-tethered drones and thermal imagers to check smuggling and illegal infiltration in the Dhubri sector of Assam where a major part of the border passes through a riverine stretch, making it difficult to erect a fence.
Presently, 10 km of the riverine border of the Dhubri sector has been covered under this project, the remaining part will be covered phase-wise.
The drones, equipped with day-night vision cameras, can fly up to 150 meters to capture images on the ground, especially of isolated areas not visible to the unaided human eye.
The drones are like kites and capture serial view images. The cable attached to the drone is remotely controlled from the ground to adjust its height and direction.
The 61-km border in Dhubri, where the Brahmaputra enters Bangladesh, comprises vast chars (sand bars) and multiple river channels that make border patrolling a daunting task.
Activities like cattle smuggling, gold smuggling and drug trafficking are usually carried out at night.
“These drones will be able to send images of smugglers hiding in the vicinity of the border areas and alert the troops. We have also installed an alarm system,” he said adding that the BSF has also engaged underwater thermal imagers, which are non-contact temperature measurement sensor devices to detect the movement of people, animals and smuggled goods.
BSF Guwahati Frontier has been assigned to guard an area of 509 km along Bangladesh, including 91.726 km long riverine borders, char and undulating grounds. A total of 11 battalions are deployed under three sectors including a water wing.
The topographical complexities of the border get further aggravated as the population lives nearby on both sides of the border and has ethnic and cultural similarities posing serious challenges to troops on the ground.
Stating that cattle smuggling, drugs trafficking and gold smuggling have come down to a great extent, the BSF IGP claimed that the troops have effectively checked and prevented trans-border crimes and also managed to apprehend large numbers of smugglers on the borders and remained committed to maintaining a secure environment on the border.
During the last year from January 1 to November 30, a total seizure worth ₹12 crore consisting of cattle heads, phenyl, gold, Yaba tablets, Sukhi tablets, ganja and other contraband items have been seized.
During this period, 5,695 cattle heads, 27,165 bottles of Phensedyl, 2804 kgs of ganja, 1,516.965 gms of gold, 40202 Yaba tablets, 5785 bottles of liquor and 3,39,000 face value of IFCN were recovered from the border.
During these operations, 47 Bangladeshi nationals and 186 Indian nationals were also arrested by the troops.