The Border Security Force (BSF) is erecting new uncut steel fence to plug vulnerable and infiltration-prone patches along the frontier with Pakistan and Bangladesh and the Government has expedited the proposed plans to install a smart fence along these borders within the next five years. The smart fence or laser fence entails deployment of surveillance gadgets and anti-infiltration alarms. 

The uncut single-row fence, with loops of concertina wires on top, is being erected at a 60-km border stretch near Amritsar in Punjab. A ‘pilot project’ of this new fence is also being tested at a 7-km stretch at Silchar in Assam along Indo-Bangladesh border and is being analysed by the BSF for a full rollout. While this fence costs over Rs  2 crore per kilometre, the cost is expected to come down if implemented on a large scale, officials said.

Once the Force receives a positive feedback and operational viability of these projects, new fence will be erected at more places where either the old one has worn out or there was no fence owing to geographical challenges, a senior official said. 

The BSF is scouring for tech solutions to counter rogue drones which have been sighted in large number along the Western border in Punjab after the nullification of Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Union Home Ministry has also compressed the timeline for implementation from 10 to five years for implementing the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) that proposes creation of laser or virtual walls. The pilot project of CIBMS has already been completed in the Jammu region and the feedback has been positive. The Border Management Division under the Home Ministry is seeking to expeditiously implement CIBMS which will facilitate surveillance of difficult terrains like riverine patches and mountaneous terrains which otherwise cannot be fenced through traditional mechanisms, officials said.

Officials said security agencies have detected the presence of ‘Afghan fighters’ along the Indo-Pakistan border leading to extra vigil and expeditious implementation of technology-based solutions to counter any emerging challenge posed by infiltration. 

These terror operatives have travelled across borders from Afghanistan resulting in an enhanced vigil by the security forces to thwart infiltration and terror bids along the sensitive frontier in Jammu-Kashmir.        

Infiltration bases and terror launch pads along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir are still intact but the latest concern of the security agencies is the presence of well-trained terrorists from Afghanistan who are expected to be used by Pakistan to foment trouble in the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.

The BSF has also recently completed an exercise to fully “map and identify” vulnerable spots all along these two borders as part of the move to secure the borders along Pakistan and Bangladesh, they said,

Latest measures to bolster border defences include mapping of infiltration prone areas along the two borders, and erection of new steel fence along vulnerable patches, they said.

The security agencies are also keeping a close tab on the activities of cross-border terror modules and terrorists as the security agencies here anticipate attacks on security forces and their installations in Jammu and Kashmir.