A digital ‘barrier’ has finally filled a 61 km gap on the 4,096.7 km India-Bangladesh border fence three decades after the project kickstarted.
Assam shares a 263 km border with Bangladesh. Much of the border was fenced, but a 61 km stretch in Dhubri district remained open owing to the terrain dictated by the Brahmaputra.
On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an electronic surveillance system that “is expected to diminish challenges faced by the Border Security Force in manning this stretch against cross-border crimes.” Comprising microwave communication, optical fibre cables, cameras, and an intrusion detection device, this system is called BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) and was established under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System.
“This appears to be a better system than fencing which takes a long time and undergoes wear and tear. This should make the work of the border sentinels easier and more effective,” Mr. Singh said.
The Centre, he said, had taken the cue from Israel and in 2017 decided to go for a technological solution for fool-proof sealing of the border.
“We are looking at implementing this system in other difficult stretches of this border as well as the one on the western sector (with Pakistan),” he said.
Eyes and ears
A senior BSF officer said that, despite their best efforts, they faced an uphill task of manning the 61 km stretch against cross-border criminals.
“This stretch is where the vast Brahmaputra and its numerous channels with chars (sandbars) in between flow into Bangladesh. Infiltrators, cattle smugglers and others invariably took advantage of the difficulty in keeping vigil along this stretch, even on speedboats. This system has given us the eyes and ears where it is difficult for our men to see and hear,” he said, declining to be quoted.
Fencing of the India-Bangladesh border, a long-time demand in Assam for checking illegal influx, started in the 1990s. Phase I, covering Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal, cost ₹854.35 crore. Phase II included Tripura and Mizoram, the last of the five States bordering Bangladesh, and cost ₹1,930.06 crore.
The third phase entailed overhauling the fence erected during Phase I and merging the work under Phase II in 2012. The work is yet to be completed. After a pilot project in West Bengal, the government sanctioned a ₹1,327 crore project for floodlighting 2,840 km of the India-Bangladesh border.
