Physical, smart fencing to soon come up along border

NEW DELHI, Sep 26
India will soon erect a physical and smart fence along its 1,643-km-long porous border with Myanmar.
The proposed 1643 km-long border fence between India and Myanmar will be a mix of physical and smart fencing, and the border-guarding force, Assam Rifles (AR) will likely erect border outposts in the surrounding plains once the fence is up, officials aware of the matter said.
The use of outposts is a concept adopted by Border Security Force (BSF) along the Indo-Pakistan border in the western frontier and the Indo-Bangladesh border in the east. Personnel at the border outposts have vantage points from where they keep an eye on a large area along the border. At the currently unfenced Indo-Myan- mar border, Assam Rifles has so-called Company Operating Bases, from where its personnel fan out . Assam Rifles personnel on the ground said that having outposts in the hills and jungles is not a great idea.
HT spoke to officials in the security establishment who confirmed that while the entire 1643 km cannot be fenced because the Indo-Myanmar border passes through rivers and streams, the forces would adopt smart fencing in the form of CCTV cameras and motion sensors . “The physical fence will be at places where there is a land border. There are places where the border passes through small streams and rivers. The streams keep changing course and become a force during the monsoon. At such places, Assam Rifles will use smart fencing, which is not physical fence. There will be underground sensors and motion detection cameras to check infiltration. The two technologies are being used at stretches along the Indo-Pak border,” a senior Assam Rifles officer said, asking not to be named.
The officer added that there 762 villages along the border. “Many of them will be within 150 metres of the border . This means that when the fence is erected, the villages will be between the fence and the border pillar. This means having regulated entry and exit point for such villages and its residents. There will be CCTV cameras working round-the-clock and also door frame metal detectors so that the villagers do not engage in any smuggling activity. Depending on the area, Assam Rifles could be posted in such villages too, once the fence is erected,” the officer added.
Along the 4096.7 km Indo-Bangladesh border too, there are some villages in the area between the fence and the border. At such places, there are gates installed on the border fence.
“During a meeting held with MHA on border management in April, it was suggested that once the fence is erected, the strategy of border outposts could be followed in at least the plains too. Having border outposts everywhere in the Indo-Myanmar border is not beneficial. At the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan or the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, it will be beneficial to have a team of border guards at an outpost monitoring over 5-10 km of border from atop a tower. This won’t be beneficial in the hilly terrain of the Indo-Myanmar border even after it is fenced. But most likely this will be adopted only in the plains once the fencing work is complete,” a second senior Government officer aware of the matter said, asking not to be named.
Officials in the security establishment said that the fencing is a priority because of the large influx of drugs and weapons smuggling from Myanmar.
Last week, Union Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that the Centre has already approved the budget for fencing the entire Indo-Myanmar border. Shah said that a patrol track along the border would also be paved.
Until May last year, the Government had completed just 10 km of Indo-Myanmar border fencing between 2011 and 2023; but in the following five months, at least 20 km more of fencing was completed. The recent recovery, in Koutruk and Bishnupur in Manipur, of drone bombs and rocket missiles with capacities of hitting a target 7-10 km away has also prompted the urgency to seal the border. Since the recent spate of drone and rocket missile attacks, the Director General of Assam Rifles has been stationed in Manipur and is monitoring the development instead of the headquarters in Shillong.
The Centre and the Manipur Government have also accused militant groups from Myanmar of fanning the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur.
Hindustan Times