Guwahati: The Central government is in the process of replacing 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 said here on Thursday evening.
“The work has been 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 addressing the annual press meet on the occasion of the raising day of the force on Thursday.
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“Multiple patches have been replaced and now only newly designed fencing will be installed in the border. The entire border under Guwahati Frontier covering 509 km will be covered within 2024,” Yadav remarked.
“Fencing at some patches is very old which can help the intruders to enter into Indian borders. Each of the 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.
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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, he also said.
“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,” Yadav said.
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, especially during monsoon.
“Cattle smuggling, gold smuggling and drug trafficking activities 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 here,” he said.
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, he said.
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 said 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 Rs. 12 crore consisting of cattle heads, phenyl, gold, Yaba tablets, Sukhi tablets, ganja and other contraband items etc have been seized in the Guwahati Frontier.
During this period, 5,695 cattle heads, 27,165 bottles of Phensedyl, 2,804 kg of ganja, 1,516.965 gm of gold, 40202 Yaba tablets, 5,785 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, he said.
“We are maintaining a friendly border. We maintain professional relations with our counterpart i.e. Border Guard Bangladesh and both forces are continuously making their best efforts to further improve the bilateral relations through cooperation, and maintain the peaceful situation in the border areas. Besides many contentious issues on the border have been resolved,” the BSF IGP said.
Inspector General Level talks (Border Coordination Conference) were organized in September to discuss the matters related to border management and mutual interests in which we have received a very positive response from BGB,” the IGP also said.
“The last year has seen the border become more secure and peaceful due to the untiring efforts of the border men and their efforts have been applauded by people from all walks of life. Apart from securing the borders, BSF has been able to win the hearts of the border population through its humane and nature-friendly approach, he added.